With similar features to the Basílica da Estrela in Lisbon, the Sanctuary of Nossa Senhora de Airea is a fine example of Rural Baroque, built on an old sixteenth-century chapel. The old routes to Santiago de Compostela used to pass this way, as did farmers taking their livestock to seasonal pastures, and the sanctuary is associated with promises that people made when seeking deliverance from an epidemic that raged in the region in the mid-eighteenth century. The route takes you past old-growth olive orchards on the surface of abandoned quarries, once the source of the beautiful green Viana marble, as well as visiting the historical centre of Viana do Alentejo.