A few years ago I came across a photo of a small church in Portugal which I thought was perhaps the most beautiful church I had ever seen. Those who know me know that I can get a little obsessive about things and this became one of those obsessions (like the tiny chapel in Nazare but worse). And today I finally saw it and it was as beautiful as I imagined. But more on that a bit later. 

We decided to catch the train to Aveiro as we’d heard it called the “Venice” of Portugal and Anne had never been to Venice. And while that name may be a bit of an exaggeration, Aveiro is a charming coastal city, on the shore of a lagoon with water in its soul. And the “Venice” thing comes from the fact that the town is renowned for its network of picturesque canals that you can navigate on traditional painted gondola-style boats known as moliceiros. These were originally made to harvest seaweed from the lagoon, that was then used as fertiliser in the local sandy soils. 

The canals are what give Alveiro its character and so… when in Rome (or Venice… or Aveiro) you do what everyone does and we did a little relaxing moliceiros boat tour.

Each boat is uniquely decorated and the paintings on these boats depict traditional scenes around Aveiro and on the tour, in theory, you get a good summary of the city and its history etc etc… except we could not really understand a word our guide was saying… even though he was speaking English.

Oh well, it didn’t really matter and we enjoyed a leisurely 45 minutes gliding through the canals, watching the world go by… and observing the charming Art Noveau houses in pastel shades along the quaysides in the older part of the city. We strolled along the city’s main streets and admired their pretty pastel facades… curved lines, floral motifs, decorative ironwork and intricate details all from an era when beauty and craftsmanship shaped urban design.

Forgot to mention that the railway station that we arrived at was absolutely stunning with the typically Portuguese blue and white azulejos. 

We wandered around through the colourful streets full of flowers…

… and stopped for lunch in a great little street restaurant and had some delectable mussels and cockles with wonderful homemade bread and wine.

And then to “the” church. It was pretty out of the way so as we’ve been a little lazy this trip with public transport, we decided to Bolt. It was actually by far the most expensive Bolt we’ve had on the trip (and we’ve used them ALOT) but I didn’t care. We arrived and I was immediately in awe. 

Válega church is a true masterpiece of tile painting art and surely one of the most remarkable churches in Portugal!

It has also been known as the “Portuguese Sistine Chapel”… lol a bit like calling Aveiro the ”Venice of Portugal”… but I do get it. Seriously so beautiful with its facade, completely adorned with hand-painted tiles depicting biblical moments… and the entire interior of the Church is also painted, with the Ave Maria prayer being mainly represented. Looking up, it’s impossible not to be dazzled by the ceiling, made with wood from Brazil.

It also had the most beautiful and well kept cemetery I think I have ever seen. Every single grave had fresh flowers.

I actually felt quite overwhelmed and teary… I am a lover of beauty in its many forms and it can make me quite emotional.  Feeling very blessed as we continue on our journey.