It is in the city of Portalegre, in the one known by its inhabitants as Serra da Penha, that we can find the chapel of Nossa Senhora da Penha.
Located in the mountain range in front, the Nossa Senhora da Penha dominates the city visually, framed in a strongly baroque scenery, since to get there, it is necessary to overcome the staircase that extends itself, steep, through the hill, and that is considered a place and a half of penitence, characteristic of the churches of pilgrimage and hermitages, also being able to arrive there by car.
According to tradition, the chapel originated in the devotion of a hermit refugee in the middle of the hill, whose faith impressed the population, originating, in the 17th century, the construction of a small temple.
Portalegre, is a city of charms and enchantments, and so it is in the hill of São Tomé or ( from Nossa Senhora Da Penha ), that the legend says that many, many years ago the Moors lived in Rua da Mouraria. One day when they were at war with another people, the Moorish king fled to Serra da Penha and hid there with his jewels, the noblemen and his daughter. But another king discovered him and went to the mountain to kill him. So the king, to save his daughter, enchanted her and hid her in a cave with the jewels. Even today that cave is called "The Moorish Cave." The elders say that on moonlit nights you see a princess dressed in white crying missing her parents.
