We would like to invite you to join us on a very special tour of Portugal and Northern Spain. For many seasoned international travelers, Spain has been a favorite destination for a very long time. Portugal is a relative newcomer, but it has taken the tourist market by storm. Spectacular landscapes, beaches, museums, outstanding cuisine, and an exquisitely rich history make the Iberian Peninsula a favorite spot for millions of vacationers. All of that is true, and it is even likely that personal experience does not fully relate to the wholesome experience of the place. However, one very important aspect is often overlooked: Christian history is remarkable there. 

To most, Christianity of the general area is associated with the Catholic monarchs of later-mighty Spain, fanciful, yet cold, and at times, even cruel. But both Spain and Portugal contain some of the earliest Christian sites, which date back to the very first centuries of the Christian mission around the Mediterranean. The Iberian Peninsula is filled with numerous sites associated with many early Christian sites and important shrines. The cities that we will visit were once places of important Christian council held in defense of the Orthodoxy, and many at the time had witnessed the martyric death of our co-religionists; the northern Kingdoms remained unconquered keepers of the Christian Faith and the keepers of one of the most important routes of all Christendom, that of the Road of St. James. Join Archbishop Daniel and our group on this discovery of history, culture, and Faith. 

Meals: Dinner.  Arrival in Lisbon, transfer to the hotel. Dinner and  orientation. Overnight at the hotel in Lisbon

Lisbon is one of the oldest cities in the world and the second-oldest European capital city. Julius Caesar made it a municipium. After the fall of the Roman Empire, it was ruled by a series of Germanic tribes. Later it was captured by the Moors in the 8th century. In 1147 Afonso Henriques conquered the city and founded the Cathedral of Saint Mary Major on the site of Lisbon’s main mosque. At the same time, the relics of St. Vincent of Saragossa, the Protomartyr of Spain—a deacon of the Church of Saragossa who suffered under Diocletian—were transferred to the city. In 1255, Lisbon became the country’s capital, replacing Coimbra and remaining the political, economic, and cultural center of the country. 

The semi-symbol of the city is the Belém Tower (literally: Bethlehem Tower), which is officially dedicated to the patron saint of the city, Saint Vincent. It is a 16th-century fortification located in Lisbon that used to be a ceremonial gateway to Lisbon and served as a point of embarkation and disembarkation for Portuguese explorers. The most famous of them all, Vasco de Gama, is interred in the nearby Jerónimos Monastery, a former monastery of the Order of Saint Jerome. The monastery was built in the mid-sixteenth century and served as a Pantheon of the Aviz Portugal Royan Dynasty, being secularized in 1833. Around 150 years later, this prime example of the late Portuguese Gothic Manueline style was classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, as well as the nearby Tower of Belém.

Sintra is a town and municipality in the Greater Lisbon region of Portugal, located on the Portuguese Riviera. It is famous for its 19th-century Romanticist architecture, historic estates and villas, gardens, royal palaces, and castles, which resulted in the classification of the town as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Sintra's landmarks include the medieval Castle of the Moors, the romanticist Pena National Palace, and the Portuguese Renaissance Sintra National Palace. Pena castle stands on the top of a hill in the Sintra Mountains above the town of Sintra. It is a national monument and constitutes one of the major expressions of 19th-century Romanticism in the world. The palace is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the Seven Wonders of Portugal. Our next stop will be at Cabo da Roca, also known as Cape Roca, which forms the westernmost point of the Sintra Mountain Range, of mainland Portugal, and continental Europe. Nearby, there is also a lighthouse that was built in the 18th century, and entered operation in 1772.

Our first visit of the day will be to Nazaré, with an Ancient miraculous statue of the Mother of God of Nazareth, traditionally believed to be brought from the Middle East in Antiquity. According to tradition, the statue must have been venerated since the beginning of Christianity in Nazareth, in Palestine. In the fifth century, it was brought to Iberia, where it remained until 711, and when the Moorish Army defeated the Christians, the monks had to flee, taking the statue with them. The place where monks arrived became known as Nazare and eventually turned into a major pilgrim destination in Portugal. The Alcobaça Monastery was established in 1153 by the first Portuguese king, Afonso Henriques, and would develop a close association with the Portuguese monarchy throughout its seven-century-long history. Due to its association and sheer size, it became one of the most important medieval monasteries in Portugal. The monastery closed in 1834, during the dissolution of the monasteries in Portugal. 

Our last visit of the day will be to the Convent of Christ in Tomar, Portugal. It was established in 1118 as a Templar stronghold, and when the order was dissolved in the 14th century the Portuguese branch was turned into the Knights of the Order of Christ. This later supported Portugal's maritime discoveries of the 15th century. The convent and castle complex are both historic and cultural monuments and were listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1983.

The town of Coimbra is well known from the time of the Romans, when it was known as a Roman settlement of Aeminium. It served as the capital of Portugal from 1131 until 1255, when the capital was moved to Lisbon. While the city was the political center of Portugal, it naturally became a major cultural center as well, and it was here that the first Portuguese university was moved in 1308. The University of Coimbra is the oldest academic institution in the Portuguese-speaking world. During the exploration of the historical center, we will attend a mini-concert of Fado, a type of Portuguese singing, that is renowned for its expressive and profoundly melancholic character. Later on, we will stop in Porto, one of the oldest European centers. Its center was proclaimed a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1996. Among many other sites in the old center, we will visit the Basilica, famous and revered for its great collection of relics of the ancient saints of the Church. Overnight in Coimbra. 

Braga is a city and a municipality, and a seat of the oldest Portuguese archdiocese. During the Roman Empire, then known as Bracara Augusta, the settlement was the capital of the Roman province of Gallaecia and later would become the capital of the Kingdom of the Suebi that was one of the first territories to separate from the Roman Empire in the 5th century. The city’s cathedral is a wondrous repository of the early Christian relics. The patron Saint of Braga is Peter of Rates (or of Braga), who is traditionally considered to be the first bishop of Braga between the years 45 and 60 AD, rests in the cathedral. Tradition says he was a Jew that Saint James the Great ordained to preach the glory of Christ. The same tradition holds that Peter of Rates was martyred while attempting to make converts to the Christian faith in northern Portugal. 

Another patron of the city, Saint Martin of Braga, was an archbishop of Bracara Augusta in Gallaecia (now Braga), a missionary, a monastic founder, and an ecclesiastical author. According to his contemporary, the historian Gregory of Tours, Martin was "full of virtue" and due to his work on converting Arian Suebi to Chalcedonian Christianity, he is considered to be the “Apostle of Suebi”. The cathedral, as the most important religious site in Iberia (before the founding of Santiago of Compostela and the reconquest of Toledo from Muslim hands), was an extremely powerful institution. Among many other things, Braga hosts the oldest chapel in Portugal, the Chapel of São Frutuoso. The chapel was built by the Visigoths on top of a Roman temple to Asclepius and it was made to be a Royal Chapel. In 656 AD, it was consecrated by Saint Fructuosus to be used as his tomb. 

Our last stop today will be at the Sanctuary of Bom Jesus do Monte, one of Portugal’s most important religious, architectural, and cultural landmarks. With a history that dates back to the 14th century, its current buildings and structures are from the 18th/beginning of the 19th centuries. Recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the sanctuary is set in the bosom of nature. Its hilltop position provides splendid panoramic views over the nearby city of Braga and the surrounding hills. The sanctuary’s Baroque stairway is of particular interest. It consists of 573 steps and 17 landings. It’s designed to take the pilgrim on a deep spiritual journey in the steps of the Passion of Christ. The culmination is reaching the hilltop basilica’s altarpiece with a full-size sculptural group depicting the Crucifixion. For the overnight stay, we will transfer to Porto. 

We will start our day with the Divine Liturgy at the Orthodox Church of Porto. The community, which consists mainly of expats from the former Eastern bloc countries, rents one of the Catholic churches for their Liturgical needs. After Liturgy, some refreshments will be offered as well as a chance to interact with a local Orthodox priest. 

From here, we will proceed to one of the local wine cellars for some tasting of the local Port wine. After taking a boat tour on Douro River to get more taste of the city, but this time from the water. Later in the afternoon, we will start our transfer to Santiago de Compostela. As the transfer will take us several hours, we will take a coffee break in Ponte de Lima. As one of the oldest towns in Portugal, Ponte de Lima was historically significant as a Roman settlement on the road from Braga to Santiago de Compostela and Lugo. Today, it is a significant stop on the Central Portuguese branch of the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage route. The main symbol of Ponte de Lima (which together with the river) names the town, is its bridge. In reality, it’s a composite formed by two bridges: a medieval part, which is bigger, starting on the left bank of the river, for the length of two more arches. After that, starts the Roman part of the bridge; it is only five arches long, starting from the big arch already lying on the old, dry riverbed.

After the breaks, we will continue our journey to Santiago where we will stay overnight.

Santiago de Compostela—or simply, Compostela—is the capital of the autonomous community of Galicia, in northwestern Spain. The city has its origin in the shrine of Saint James the Great, now the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, as the destination of the Way of St. James, a leading Catholic pilgrimage route since the 9th century. According to medieval legend, the remains of the apostle James, son of Zebedee, were brought to Galicia for burial, where they were lost. Eight hundred years later, the light of a bright star guided a shepherd, Pelagius the Hermit, who was watching his flock at night to the burial site in Santiago de Compostela. This site was originally called Mount Libredon and its physical topography leads prevalent sea-borne winds to clear the cloud deck immediately overhead. The shepherd quickly reported his discovery to the bishop of Iria, Theodemir. The bishop declared that the remains were those of the apostle James and immediately notified King Alfonso II in Oviedo. 

To honor St. James, the cathedral was built on the spot where his remains were said to have been found. By the mid-11th century, the site had already become a pan-European place of pilgrimage. Soon thereafter, Santiago would become a main Western Shrine and a pilgrim destination second only to Rome and Jerusalem. The excavations conducted in the cathedral during the 19th and 20th centuries uncovered a Roman martyrium, around which grew a small cemetery in Roman and Suevi times which was later abandoned. This martyrium proves the existence of an old Christian holy place on the site of the Cathedral. From Santiago, we will transfer to Oviedo. En route, time permitting, we will stop by a picturesque stop by the ocean.

We will start our morning in Oviedo, the capital city of the Principality of Asturias in northern Spain. On our way, we will stop to visit the church of St Christine of Lena, an Asturian pre-Romanesque church located in the Lena municipality, on an old Roman road that joined the lands of the plateau with Asturias. It was built around the year 850 and is one of the most interesting examples of pre-Romanesque Asturian art. The Kingdom of Asturias began in 720, with the Visigothic aristocrat Pelagius's (685–737) revolt against the Muslims who at the time were occupying most of the Iberian Peninsula. The Moorish invasion that began in 711 had taken control of most of the peninsula, until the revolt in the northern mountains by Pelagius. The resulting Kingdom of Asturias, located in an economically poor region of Iberia, was largely ignored by the Muslims. In 720, the area where Oviedo is now located was still uninhabited. The rapid development of the city was hindered in the 11th century by the moving of the royal court to León. Thus, the main life of the former capital was linked to the relics preserved in its cathedral that were visiting it on their way to Santiago de Compostela. 

The Cathedral of San Salvador of Oviedo today displays an array of architectural styles, from Pre-Romanesque to Baroque, including Romanesque, Gothic, and Renaissance parts. The cathedral was also called Sancta Ovetensis owing to the quantity and quality of relics contained in the Cámara Santa (“Holy Chamber”). The Holy Chamber is the only surviving portion of the ancient medieval complex. Bishop Pelagius relates that the Agate Box, (the chief reliquary of the chamber) a coffer made by the disciples of the Apostles and containing the most precious relics of the Holy City, was taken from Jerusalem to Africa, and after residing in several locations was finally placed at Oviedo by Alfonso II. Among the most prized relics is the Sudarium of Oviedo, or , a Shroud of Oviedo, bloodstained piece of cloth measuring c. 84 x 53 cm (33 x 21 inches) believed to be the cloth that was wrapped around the head of Jesus Christ after he died as described in John 20:6–7. 

In the afternoon, we will return to Leon. Of greatest pilgrim importance here is the Basílica de San Isidoro de León. Its Christian roots can be traced back to the early 10th century when a monastery for Saint John the Baptist was erected on the grounds. In 1063, the basilica was rededicated to Saint Isidore of Seville. Isidore was the archbishop of Seville and the most celebrated academic and theologian of Visigothic Spain in the period preceding the Arab invasions. With the agreement of the Muslim ruler of Seville, Isidore's relics were brought to Leon where they could be interred on Christian soil. Shortly after the rededication of the Cathedral, the Royal Pantheon was built by King Fernando the First and Queen Sancha. The mural decoration ordered by her daughter Urraca gained Pantheon the nickname of 'The Sistine Chapel of the Romanesque Art'. 

Our last visit today will be to the  San Miguel de Escalada monastery located on the outskirts of Leon. The building is a very fine example of Mozarabic art. The inscription that was lost since gave information about the church's consecration in 951 by Bishop Genadio, around the time of the founding of the Kingdom of León. It was constructed on the site of a Visigothic church probably dedicated to Saint Michael. Overnight in Leon.

In the morning we will transfer to Burgos, founded in 884 by the second Count of Castile, Burgos soon became the leading city of the embryonic County of Castile. Construction on Burgos' Gothic Cathedral began in 1221 and spanned mainly from the 13th to 15th centuries. It has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Cathedral is the resting place for El Cid (the famous knight from Medieval Spain's history) and his wife Dona Jimena. In the afternoon we will visit the monasteries of San Millán de Suso (6th century) and San Millán de Yuso (11th century), situated in the village of San Millán de la Cogolla. The names Suso and Yuso mean the "upper" and the "lower" in archaic Castilian, respectively. Suso is the older building and is believed to have been built on the site of a hermitage where Saint Aemilian lived. Perhaps Suso's major claim to fame is the place where phrases in the Spanish and Basque languages were written for the first time. UNESCO acknowledges the site "as the birthplace of the modern written and spoken Spanish language". 

Saint Aemilian (+573) is an Iberic saint, widely revered throughout Spain, who lived during the age of Visigothic rule. According to his hagiography, written about a hundred years after the saint's death, Aemilian was born in Vergaja where he was a shepherd. At about the age of twenty, Aemilian had a religious experience, which led him to decide to dedicate himself to God. He sought the leadership of an experienced hermit and lived under his guidance for many years. After leaving his teacher, Aemilian lived as a hermit in the mountains. Eventually, he would be ordained as a priest but would rouse the opposition of his fellow priests because of his heavy distribution of alms or reputation for holiness or miracle-working. Then Aemilian returned to the wilderness, and a small community of disciples gathered around his cell. He died at a venerable age, and his body was initially interred at his hermitage, but later transferred to a monastery built in memory of him. For the overnight stay, we will return to Burgos.

In the morning, we will have a lengthy transfer to Madrid. Madrid is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union. While Madrid possesses modern infrastructure, it has preserved the look and feel of many of its historic neighborhoods and streets. Even though the site of modern-day Madrid has been occupied since prehistoric times, with the archeological remains from different periods found throughout the city, the first historical document about the existence of an established settlement in Madrid dates from the Muslim age, in the second half of the 9th century. 

After the panoramic bus tour of the city, we will visit the most famous museum of the capital of Spain, the Museo del Prado. “…the Museo del Prado, an institution dating back 200 years and one whose origins and unique nature are largely due to the collecting tastes of Spain’s 16th- and 17th-century monarchs. Collecting at that period differed from the present day. Rather than aiming at comprehensiveness, collectors aimed to assemble as many works as possible by their favorite artists. This explains why the Prado has been described as a museum of painters not of paintings, given that its artists are represented in a superlative manner with, for example, the largest holdings of Bosch, Titian, El Greco, Rubens, Velázquez and Goya, some numbering more than 100 works. This type of instinctive collecting also resulted in gaps and explains why some periods are less well represented than others, either because they were not of interest, for example the Italian Primitives, or for historical reasons, as with 17th-century Dutch painting”. https://www.museodelprado.es/en/the-collection After the tour, we will check in at the hotel in Madrid.

Toledo is primarily located on the right (North) bank of the Tagus in central Iberia, nestled in a bend of the river. It is known as the "City of the Three Cultures" for the cultural influences of Christians, Muslims, and Jews throughout its history. It was the capital, from 542 to 725 CE, of the Visigothic kingdom and was the venue for the Councils of Toledo. From the 5th century to the 7th century AD, ecclesiastical gatherings, variously counted, were held at Toledo. Most of them took place in the 7th century which led church historians to call that period the Age of the Councils. The city, which remained the seat of a powerful archdiocese for much of its history, has a Gothic Cathedral. Toledo also had a sizable Jewish community, and to date, two medieval Jewish synagogues remain in the city. Toledo was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1986 for its extensive monumental and cultural heritage. Toledo is also famous as the home of Domenikos Theotokopoulos, more commonly known as El Greco. A native of Crete, Domenikos was born there in 1541, but before he turned thirty, he moved to Venice and then to Rome. In 1577, he came to Toledo and remained there till his death in 1614. El Greco has been characterized by modern scholars as an artist so individual that he belongs to no conventional school and is considered to be a precursor of both Expressionism and Cubism. In the afternoon, we will return to Madrid for a farewell dinner and an overnight stay.

Breakfast. Transfer to the airport. Departure back home