THE ROUTE LESS TRAVELED

As martyrdoms go, the fate of St. Vincent of Saragossa was pretty grisly. The third-century Spanish deacon lived during the Great Persecution, when Roman Emperor Diocletian ordered all Christians to recant their faith on pain of torture or death. St. Vincent piously refused and was consequently lacerated with iron hooks and roasted over a gridiron. Legend has it that his body was brought to the wild promontory marking the southwesterly corner of Portugal, where a flock of ravens guarded his grave.

In the Middle Ages, Cape St. Vincent became a place of pilgrimage. Today, it marks the end—or the beginning, depending on which direction you take—of the Rota Vicentina, a well-marked network of walking trails that stretches from the village of Santiago do Cacém in Alentejo