Casas Novas: Pilgrimage Tradition and Estate History

Casas Novas can be explored through three distinct themes: the pilgrimage to the nearby Santuário de Nosso Senhor dos Aflitos, the history of the Casas Novas estate and the PR9 Rota de Peregrinação do Senhor dos Aflitos. These connections help you weigh up a travel destination between religious tradition, rural heritage and a pilgrimage route through a countryside setting. This allows you to consider in advance whether the pilgrimage history, the historical traces of the estate or the landscape along the route are of particular interest for your trip.

Pilgrimage and the Santuário de Nosso Senhor dos Aflitos

In the area around Casas Novas, pilgrimages to the Santuário de Nosso Senhor dos Aflitos take place throughout the year. There is also an annual festival with the character of a romaria. Both the recurring pilgrimages and the festival shape the religious tradition of the surrounding area. If you are planning your trip around the festival, check the dates before making your plans.

The large church of the Santuário was built in 1815 and preserves an older chapel that was constructed before 1720. Inside the church are votive offerings from the faithful. Thus, several historical layers come together at this sanctuary near Casas Novas: the construction history of the large church, the older chapel and the religious practice reflected in the votive offerings. For travellers interested in sacred buildings, this combination provides a concrete reference point for understanding the pilgrimage tradition.

The PR9 and its route landscape

Casas Novas is listed on the PR9 Rota de Peregrinação do Senhor dos Aflitos. The PR9 is a pilgrimage route through rural landscapes with montado and pastureland. The combination of the route’s character and landscape makes it a distinct point of reference alongside the architectural and pilgrimage traditions of the Santuário. Along the route, the trail leads to the Barragem do Zé dos Cães, where impressive hydraulic structures can be observed.

There is also the option to take a detour to the Barragem do Campino. An additional out-and-back distance of around five kilometres is indicated for this detour. This is a helpful distinction for your planning: the roughly five kilometres refer to the detour and not to the total length of the PR9. This way, you can decide whether to extend the route to include this additional section without confusing the figure with the route as a whole.

The Casas Novas estate and its history

The Casas Novas estate includes an Alentejo monte building, which was constructed at the end of the 19th century. Casas Novas is one of the agricultural estates that served agricultural and livestock production. The buildings and their former use therefore provide two different perspectives on the estate’s history: the construction period places the monte building in its historical context, while the agricultural and livestock production describes the economic background of the estate.

Responsibility for the estate is attributed to the Elias Martins family, in particular the philanthropic farmer José Elias Martins (1886–1966). Together with the late 19th-century construction, the family history helps to view Casas Novas as part of a rural estate and production history.

Cultural history in the context of Urra

Urra also offers further historical points of reference. There is the Igreja Matriz de São Tiago from the 16th century. Also in Urra is the Palaeolithic site of Monte da Faia, with lithic remains of human settlement. The two sites represent very different historical periods: while the church dates from the 16th century, the finds at Monte da Faia point to human settlement in the Palaeolithic.

These connections with Urra complement the view of Casas Novas with sacred architectural history and an archaeological context, without equating them with the characteristics of the estate or the PR9. When choosing a hotel for a trip to Casas Novas, you can therefore first prioritise the themes that interest you: the pilgrimage tradition and the Santuário, the history of an agricultural estate, or the landscape and destinations along the PR9.

Discover more travel destinations: Elvas, Santo Aleixo, Beirã, Ponte De Sôr, Figueira e Barros, Fortios, Ribeira de Nisa e Carreiras, Nisa

For the overall travel overview: Portalegre.