The traditional Pilgrimage on Horseback between Moita (Setúbal) and Viana do Alentejo (Évora) will take place from 23 to 28 April, with the novelty that this year’s edition will include an extra day, the organization announced today.
This year’s initiative, which connects the two municipalities, is in its 22nd edition and, as usual, is expected to bring together hundreds of pilgrims from various parts of the country, along a route of around 150 kilometers, on dirt tracks, according to the promoters.
The event is a joint organization of the Moita and Viana do Alentejo town councils and the associations of the Moitense Tradition Pilgrims and the Viana do Alentejo Equestrian Pilgrims.
“This pilgrimage establishes a link between the populations of the two towns, in a tradition that has long been associated with the ancient cattle transhumance routes, combining the profane with the sacred,” according to the Municipality of Viana do Alentejo.
The mayor of Alentejo, Luís Miguel Duarte, argued that it was “a great event, which has already consolidated its presence among the major equestrian events at national level”.
And this year, the mayor emphasized, the pilgrimage on horseback “has a significant change”, because it includes “another day”.
Luís Miguel Duarte explained that this change is related to the alteration of the routes, which “will bring less effort and sacrifice to both the pilgrims and the horses”.
The mayor also said that this is an initiative of “leisure and conviviality between the participants in the pilgrimage and the people they pass through”.
The event will be promoted by the Câmara de Viana do Alentejo at the Lisbon Tourism Exchange (BTL), at FIL, next Saturday at 18:00.
This is one of the Alentejo municipalities taking part in this year’s edition of BTL, which kicks off on Wednesday and runs until Sunday, as part of the Turismo do Alentejo e Ribatejo area, where other actions to promote this and other municipalities in the region will take place.
In the 2024 Horse Pilgrimage, with different stages, participants will set off from the town of Moita at 09:30 on April 23rd.
The culmination of the journey along the old royal canyon, better known as the ‘Road of the Spaniards’, is the arrival in Viana do Alentejo, scheduled for around 5pm on April 27, while the following day is reserved for religious initiatives at the Shrine of Our Lady of Aires.
The Pilgrimage on Horseback recovers an old religious tradition that existed in the town of Moita, when farmers used to go with their animals to the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Aires in Viana do Alentejo.
The pilgrims wanted the animals to be blessed during a procession in honor of Our Lady of Aires, patron saint of animals, and asked for protection and good harvests.
Resumed in 2001, after an interregnum of more than 70 years, the event is attended annually by hundreds of pilgrims who take with them the image of Our Lady of Good Journey, which is joined on arrival in Viana do Alentejo by the image of Our Lady of Aires.
