Nazaré Funicular

In Nazaré, I had booked a room in the upper part of the city, and from the bus station I went straight to the funicular, which is visible from afar. From the bus station (if you can call a small room with a ticket office that way) to the funicular a little less than a kilometer, I walked for about 20 minutes.

The lower station of the funicular is located on the Rua do Elevador, starting at the Sao Miguel restaurant, at the very end of the Avenida da Republica promenade.

The fare is 1.20 euros, tickets are sold at the ticket office. Perhaps there are also travel tickets, I didn't have time to ask.

I didn't have to wait long for the departure, the day travel interval is 15 minutes, the funicular operates from 7 am to 1 am.

The funicular of Nazaré (Ascensor da Nazaré) is the brainchild of the famous engineer Raoul Ronson Mesnier du Ponsard, the author of the famous lifts in Lisbon, Porto and Braga. The elevator received its first passengers on July 28, 1889, and for a long time it worked only during the bathing season. A steam engine was used as a drive, and the trailers were loaded with 60 people each.

In 1924, the funicular was purchased by the Board of trustees of the Church of Our Lady of Nazaréeth, and in 1932 returned to the hands of the city council and since then has been transferred to year-round operation.

On February 15, 1963, there was a disaster-a cable break, as a result of which two people were killed. The lift was opened five years later, receiving a three-level braking system and electric drive.

The Nazarée funicular lifts passengers to a height of 110 meters, the line length is 318 meters, including 50 meters in the tunnel. The track has a constant slope of 42%, and an open cable on pulleys is used as the drive.

Oncoming trailers leave exactly in the middle of the road - at the mark of 158 meters.

In September 2001, the lift was closed for major repairs, which included rebuilding the terminals and replacing the trailers with modern ones. The renovated funicular was opened to passengers in June 2002.

According to statistics, the funicular in Nazarée transports more than a million passengers a year and is considered the busiest in Portugal (presumably, after the elevators of Lisbon).

Less than 5 minutes after the poisoning, I found myself at the top station of the funicular.

The station is located again on Rua do Elevador, but already in the upper district of Nazarée, Sitiu. Nearby are the Virgin Nazarée Square and the Subercu Observation Deck, which offers a wonderful view of the city.