This religious festival occurs annually on the last Sunday of July in the Senhor do Monte (Lord of the Mountains) Santuary in Pinho. Situated in the Facho mountain range it's the biggest santuary in the borough. It has a church with two towers, a house to store the saint statues, surrounded by pine trees and vast space ideal for making picnics. Legend has it that in the old days, nothing existed in this space apart from a path where muleteers would pass on their commercial travels. This is where they would stop to rest and pray and leave some change to a saint asking for protection from the thieves. Until one day, according to legend, the Lord of the Mountains appeared to the muleteers. You can still see his footprints to this day. The people took the statue of the Saint to the church in Pinho, but the Saint insisted on appearing in the same place. Until one day the people gave up and honored the Saint's wish by building a chapel close to where he kept going back to and placed a cross on the pile of stones. Over time people would leave alms for the Saint and the money kept growing and growing so with it they decided to build a church made of stone with the help of the bull carts and the farmers of the villages from the area. It is considered the protector of animals and is celebrated every year. Traditionally, on the Saturday, farmers take their animals up to the Sanctuary and walk around it three times. Many of the farmers come from long distances, not only from the borough but from neighboring counties, once by foot but now in vans carrying their animals to the Sanctuary in search of protection of the Holy. On this day, the faithful say, despite the high concentration of animals in space, you cannot see a fly in the pine forest. The alms of promises for the protection received used to be given in rye, but now people usually give money. On Sunday the sanctuary is filled with the faithful to attend the religious ceremony and the majestic procession that takes place around the shrine, accompanied by several bands. Then the festival continues, animated by another band. Many people bring picnics from home to have lunch and enjoy the grounds. The festival attracts many street vendors with the most diverse products.
Location: Boticas
