Discover Leiria by Hire Car
Leiria, with 50,000 inhabitants, is a small town in the heart of Portugal. Impressively, the former royal castle on a 113-metre-high hill towers over the idyllic town even at first glance.
The Castelo of Leiria, with its Moorish and Roman structures, is one of the most interesting of its kind in the country. Even today, its former splendour can be clearly seen in its slender columns and Gothic tower with its twin windows.
Sights in Leiria
In the old town of Leiria, an imposing 16th-century Gothic cathedral awaits visitors, with a small museum attached to it containing exhibits of glass and ceramics.
At the opposite end of the street is the pilgrimage church of Nossa Senhora da Encarnacao of Leiria , which can be reached via a baroque staircase. Here too, valuable paintings and sacred art can be admired inside.
Numerous artists over the years recorded Leiria, the picturesque town between Rio Liz and the Rio Lena, in their sketchbooks and it was in the restored Palacio Real that Portuguese poet Dom Diniz is said to have written his famous love songs.
Leisure in Leiria
After a walk through the massive pine forest of Leiria, you reach the stretch of coast between Praia de Viera and San Pedro de Muel. In stormy seas, swimming here is fun for experienced swimmers in the Atlantic.
For those who like it quieter, the shell-shaped bay of Sao Marthinho do Porto offers more peaceful watersports conditions.
A hire car can be used to reach the pilgrimage site of Fatima, where the Virgin Mary is said to have appeared to three children, from Leiria. The World Heritage-listed Mosteiro de Santa Maria monastery in Batalha, built during the 14th to 16th centuries, is also within easy reach.
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