Pilgrimage shrines in Portugal according to natural and cultural characteristics, with a view to their comprehensive protection

This article focuses on catholic pilgrimage shrines in Portugal, filling a gap regarding their defining natural and cultural characteristics. These are viewed jointly and interpretively: nature shaping culture and culture shaping nature. The urgent relevance arises from an analysis of the basis of the classifications of 25 shrines (those classified by Património Cultural, I. P., Ministério da Cultura), in which we raised the hypothesis that their landscape values were not recognized. After researching the literature, we visited these places to observe and analyze the landscapes where they are located and the places they constitute, seeking to identify the factors that are fundamental to them. The subspaces that contribute to their spatial diversity were subsequently characterized. As icons of landscape heritage, each pilgrimage shrine is the combined reflection of its surrounding landscape, the particularities of its site, the Church's investment in the implementation of a religious and recreational program, its historical course and the influences it has received, the functions it performs, and its design. We find an interpretative matrix of pilgrimage shrines in the building and churchyard/viewpoint combination, a consistent way of presenting certain subspaces with different articulations; 50% of these places have this typology and are located in a situation of visual predominance, with regional or local significance. With this article, in which we identify a set of basic criteria for study and analysis, we hope to contribute to the effective and comprehensive protection of these places.