Reguengo do Fetal

Reguengo do Fetal and its unique traditions

A parish and community in the municipality of Batalha, covering approximately 28 km2, located west of the foothills of the Serra de Aire - a short distance from Batalha, Leiria and Fátima, and with about 2.169 inhabitants.

Famous for its climbing walls                                                                               

With more than 100 catalogued routes with varying degrees of difficulty and altitude differences ranging from 70 to 500 meters, it is also in this community that the memory of the ancient miracle of the apparition of the Virgin Mary to a shepherdess is evoked annually. 

The festival in honor of Our Lady of Fetal 

This iconic festival takes place on the first Sunday of October and is preceded by nighttime processions illuminated by small lights from snail shells, truly unique in Portugal.

Reports from the 1960s and 1970s in the Jornal do Reguengo already noted the visual spectacle created by the procession: "Indeed, today, this resplendent spectacle of light attracts many outsiders to Reguengo, who are amazed and immediately vow to return the following year." There are thousands upon thousands of shells devoid of their mollusks, arranged according to each person's feelings, imagination, and devotion, which can be admired on these two unique nights, experienced each year in our land”. (Neves, Jornal do Reguengo, 1971).

Hermitage of Our Lady of Fetal 

Located on a small hill and built in 1585 on top of a primitive chapel, of which no trace remains. At the end of the 17th century, it was covered with tiles from the Juncal Ceramics Factory: blue and white pattern on the walls of the nave, single figure in blue, yellow on white, on the walls of the chancel.

The side altarpieces, made of gilded wood, originate from the Leiria Cathedral and were installed here in 1794. From 1905, the tile panel by Roque Gameiro depicts the miracle of Our Lady of Fetal. It’s in this Hermitage that the image of Our Lady of Fetal - probably dating from the 15th century, is located. The Feast of Senhora do Fetal is celebrated on the first Sunday of October.

And it is from here that the image will depart on the evening of September 27th, descending approximately 800 meters to the Parish Church of Our Lady of Remedies, in the main square of Reguengo do Fetal.

Gastronomic delicacies 

Cavacas do Reguengo 

Are made with flour, olive oil, eggs, salt, and lemon. 
Although few people make them today, Cavacas do Reguengo, wrapped in parchment paper and placed on reeds, and placed on the processional platforms of the Nossa Senhora do Fetal on the first Sunday of October.

Bolos de Perna

Shaped like a horseshoe and scented with lemon zest, cinnamon and fennel. 
Like the Cavacas do Reguengo, they also have a place of honor on the processional platforms of the Nossa Senhora do Fetal.