Pilgrimaging to Spain and Portugal

Day 1: HOMETOWN – MADRID

We will arrive at Madrid Airport where we will meet our tour escort. Transfer by coach to our hotel in Madrid. Registration in the hotel for 4 nights stay. Dinner and overnight in our hotel.

Day 2: MADRID

Breakfast in our hotel. Afterwards we will start our panoramic tour of Madrid during which we will see La Gran Vía, the most known street full of shops and theatres which we could compare to Broadway, Plaza de Cibeles with a beautiful building of the former Main Post Office with a fountain presenting Demeter in front and Paseo del Prado with many important and famous museums such as Prado or Reina Sofía. We will have lunch at a local restaurant and in the afternoon we will see the Royal Palace (exterior visit) and Madrid Cathedral, which is known as Sanctuary of Our Lady of Almudena, the patroness of Madrid. According to legend, the statue representing Virgin Mary was brought to Madrid almost two thousand years ago by Caloserus who was one of the disciples of Saint James the Great. The image was carved by Nicodemus and painted by Saint Luke. The devotion to Our Lady of Almudena dates back to the 11th century. The tradition says that when the King Alfonso VI of Castile conquered Madrid in 1083, ordered the purification of the Church of Saint Mary that had been profaned by the Muslims. Since the statue had disappeared the King and the religious authorities decided to organize a procession. During it, at a certain moment a part of the city walls fell down and the statue of Our Lady, hidden for three hundred years, was found. On each side of the statue there were two candles, still lighting! And why do the statue and the cathedral are named Almudena? It is easy - this word means "market" or "granary" in Arabic and indeed that was the place next to which the statue had been hidden. We will have our Holy Mass in the Cathedral. Afterwards we will walk down Calle Mayor to arrive in Plaza Mayor with its famous Casa de la Panadería and later on we will folllow to Puerta del Sol, which names comes after one of Madrid Gates that had stood there cenuries ago. Return to our hotel for dinner and overnight.

Day 3: MADRID – GUADALUPE (151 miles)

Breakfast in our hotel. Today we will leave Madrid in the direction of Guadalupe where we will visit the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Guadalupe. The Shrine is located in the region of Extremadura, 151 miles from Madrid. Upon arrival we will have lunch at a local restaurant and afterwards we will visit the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe that was the most important Marian Shrine in the medieval Kingdom of Castile. Tradition attributes the Shrine to have been made by Saint Luke the Evangelist and it is said it was given by Pope Gregory I (5-6th century AD) to Saint Leander who was archbishop of Seville. When the city of Seville was conquered by the Muslims a group of priests managed to run away with the Statue and to burry it in the hills near the Guadalupe River. We know that at the beginning of the 14th century the Virgin Mary appeared to one shepherd telling him to ask the priests to dig in the very same place of the apparition. The Statue was found and a small chapel was built there. First pilgrims began to arrive in 1326 and fourteen years later King Alfonso XI did a lot to develop the Shrine since he considered that he had won over the Muslims in the Battle of Rio Salado thanks to the Virgin's intercession. We are going to celebrate Holy Mass in the Sanctuary and after it there will be time for private devotion. Check in in our hotel in Guadalupe for one night stay. Dinner in our hotel and overnight.

Day 4: GUADALUPE – LISBON (256 miles)

Breakfast in our hotel. Today in the morning we will leave Guadalupe heading to Lisbon, ancient and beautiful capital of Portugal. Lisbon is recognized an alpha city because of its importance in finances, media, entertainment, commerce, international trade, education, tourism and arts. Lisbon is also one of the oldest cities in the world since it was Julius Caesar who in the 1st century BC made it a municipium. Upon arrival we will have our lunch at a local restaurant and later we will start our guided tour of this charming city. We will see the Tower of Belem standing in a Lisbon district that carries the same name. It was from here many famous sailors set off: Henry the Sailor, Bartholomeu Dias, Ferdinand Magellan and Vasco da Gama and Columbus stopped here coming back from America. The Tower of Belem is an architectural jewel of the Portuguese Art known as El Manuelino Style and which was a mute witness of the First and Great Lusitanian Empire in the whole World. In the 15th and 16th centuries Lisbon was the richest and the most cosmopolitan European city. The impressive Geronimo’s Monastery rises in the very same district. We will visit the Lisbon Cathedral dedicated to Our Lady - the Cathedral is the oldest Lisbon church and its beginnings date back to 1147. Afterwards we will go to the birth house of Saint Anthony, born in 1195, known as Saint Anthony of Padua for the place where he died and where his tomb is. He was canonized shortly after his death in 1232. We will celebrate our Holy Mass at the Cathedral of Lisbon or at the Church of Saint Anthony of Padua. Check in in our hotel for one night stay. We will have dinner in our hotel and overnight.

Day 5: LISBON – FATIMA (81 miles)

Breakfast in our hotel. Today in the morning we will leave Lisbon heading to Fatima and to Aljustrel to visit all places related to the pasthorinhos whose names were Jacinta, Francisco and Lucia and apparitions of Virgin Mary that took place in 1917. We will visit the houses where the children were born in the humble village of Aljustrel and the Parish Church of Fatima where they were baptized. We will see also the Chapel of the Apparitions - an open - air chapel built at the place where the Fatima apparitions were reported. We will visit Great Basilica of Our Lady of Fatima where the bodies of Jacinta, Francisco and Lucia lie. We will celebrate our Holy Mass in the Our Lady of Fatima Church or in the Chapel of The Apparitions. Lunch at a local restaurant in Fatima In the afternoon we will have time for a private devotion. Later we will register in the hotel for one night stay. Dinner in our hotel and afterwards we will have the possibility to assist in the Candlelight Procession. Overnight in our hotel in Fatima.

Day 6: FATIMA – TRUJILLO (192 miles) – MADRID (159 miles)

Breakfast in our hotel. Today in the morning we will leave Fatima going back to Spain, to Madrid. On route we will stop in Trujillo, lovely town in the Extremadura region. Two famous people were born there - Francisco Pizarro who conquered Peru and Francisco de Orellana who was the first man ever to complete the first known navigation through the length of the Amazon River and who named it. We will have a short guided tour of the town; we will celebrate our Holy Mass in one of the churches and we will have our lunch at a local restaurant. Afterwards we will depart to Madrid. Upon arrival to our hotel in Madrid we will register for two night stay. We will have dinner in our hotel. Overnight.

Day 7: MADRID – AVILA (72 miles) – MADRID (72 miles)

Breakfast in our hotel. Today we will go by coach to Avila – a beautiful town famous for its complete Romanesque city walls and for a high number of churches especially in Romanesque and Gothic Style. It was populated in pre - Roman times by the Vettones who called the place: Obila that meant 'High Mountain', since the settlement was built at 1131 meters (3665 feet) above sea level. Avila was mentioned by Ptolemy as Abula. It was one of the first cities in the Peninsula to be christianised. Saint Secundus arrived there in the 1st AD, during the Apostolic Age - he had been ordained in Rome by Saints Peter and Paul and sent to evangelize Hispania as one of the group of the Seven Apostolic Men. Saint Secundus evangelized the town and became its first bishop. He was martyred and his body lies in Hermitage of San Secundo in Avila. Neverless, the most known Saints related to Avila are Saint Teresa of Jesus and Saint John of the Cross. Saint Teresa who lived in 16th century was a Spanish mystic, Carmelite nun, theologian and writer of the Counter Reformation. She is also Roman Catholic Saint since she was canonized forty years after her death (1582) by Pope Gregory XV and named a Doctor of the Church by Pope Paul VI in 1970. She is considered, along with Saint John of the Cross, a founder of the Discalced Carmelites. While in Avila we will visit the place where Saint Teresa was born. Her house was transformed in Church and we will have our Holy Mass there. Afterwards we will go to the Convent of the Incarnation (La Encarnación) placed just outside the medieval walls of Avila where Saint Teresa spent thirty years of her life. We will also enter the 12th century fortress - like Cathedral dedicated to Saint Salvador known as the first Gothic Style Cathedral in Spain. We will have lunch at a local restaurant. Late in the afternoon we will return to Madrid for dinner and overnight in our hotel.

Day 8: MADRID – HOMETOWN

After having breakfast in our hotel we will have time for leisure until the hour to leave the hotel in the direction of Madrid Airport to take our flight back home. End of our services.

SINGLE ROOM SUPPLEMENT IN 4 STAR HOTEL: 264 €

DISCOUNT THIRD PERSON IN THE ROOM: 15%

THE PRICE INCLUDES

7 nights in 4* hotels: 4 in Madrid (2 at the beginning and 2 at the end), 1 in Guadalupe, 1 in Lisbon, 1 in Fatima.

7 breakfasts and 7 dinners in the hotels.

7 lunches in local restaurants.

Still water included during lunch and dinner.

Luxury coach throughout the trip.

Tour escort service throughout the trip.

Guided visits: FD in Madrid, 2 hours in Guadalupe, HD in Lisbon, HD in Fatima and 1 hour in Trujillo.

Travel Insurance.

Cancellation insurance.

THE PRICE DOESN´T INCLUDE

Flight ticket.

Extras such as telephone calls, tips, etc.

Everything that has not been mentioned in the programme or in the leaflet concerning the trip.

IMPORTANT: THIS PROGRAMME IS ONLY A SUGGESTION AND IT CAN BE TAILORED AND PERSONALISED ACCORDING TO GROUPS WISHES.