Festival in honour of Our Lady of the Sands

The Festival in honour of Our Lady of the Sands, in São Jacinto, in the municipality of Aveiro, stems from an ancient local legend: that of a miraculous image found on a shipwrecked vessel, whose discovery led to the construction of a chapel. It is around this venerated image that devotion is organised, keeping alive a tradition that continues to be meaningful to the community. The celebration honours this invocation of Our Lady of the Sands, associated with the sea and the memory of the shipwreck that gave rise to the cult. The festival brings together a religious dimension with cultural and environmental events, and includes a procession, music and a pilgrimage festival that marks the local calendar. Throughout the year, São Jacinto is home to other festive gatherings, and this is one of the traditions that strengthens the parish's connection to its history and heritage.

São Jacinto, in the municipality of Aveiro, is a land born of the sea and turned towards it, leaning over the Ria, between the calm waters of the lagoon and the roar of the Atlantic. Its history is intertwined with the great adventure of cod fishing, when boats set sail for the cold northern seas and the land lived to the rhythm of the great fishing campaigns. Its heritage is made of faith and gathered stone, but the true monument is the landscape of the Ria, with that light that only places between the river and the sea can possess. At the table, cod is king, alongside caldeirada, fresh seafood and the famous patacas. It is a parish small in size but great in soul, where the Ria and the Atlantic go hand in hand.