Campo Maior has a remarkable set of churches, both for its architectural aspects, and for the number of religious buildings that proliferate in the municipality and, in particular, in the village.
This itinerary has as main objective to make known this relevant architectural set of religious characteristics.
Route:
This tour lasts about 2 hours.
1 – Statue of Santa Beatriz da Silva
We started the tour in the Municipal Garden, in the heart of the village of Campo Maior, next to the statue of Santa Beatriz. This statue was built in honor of Santa Beatriz da Silva who was born and lived in Campo Maior. He holds the bull label “Inter Universa”, issued by Pope Innocent VIII, which authorizes the establishment of the Order of the Immaculate Conception, which she founded.
2 – Bones´s Chapel
Adjacent to the Mother Church is the Bones´s Chapel, a monument dating from 1766, built in memory of the victims of the explosion of 1732. The visit to this space is justified by the fact that it is the second largest chapel of its kind in Portugal and for achieving , even today, mobilize the faithful, unlike most of their counterparts.
3 – Mother Church of Campo Maior
Continuing through the streets Vasco Sardinha, Lourenço Caiola and Primeiro de Maio, you will arrive at Largo Dr. Regala, where the Mother Church of Campo Maior is located. This monument, which occupies a central place in the village, is dedicated to Our Lady of Expectation and was built between 1570 and 1646.
4 – Monastery of the Immaculate Conception
Monastery of the Immaculate Conception, former Convent of Santo António.
You should follow the streets of Torneiros and Direita until 5 de Outubro street, where you will find the Immaculate Conception Monastery. It is a very large building, built in 1708, whose divisions are distributed around a beautiful cloister. Currently this space is inhabited by the religious conceptionists of Santa Beatriz da Silva, born in Campo Maior, in the year 1424.
5 – São Sebastião´s Chapel
The São Sebastião´s Chapel, or Mártir Santo´s Chapel, is characterized by a longitudinal plan with a single nave, with an attached sacristy, of undetermined chronology, but it is known that it was built when the 17th century bastion was built (17th century).
Its façade has a counter-curved pediment, with two pines at its ends, delimited by a straight cornice. At the top, a simple cross, symbol of Christian worship.
Inside the chancel the decoration is simple, and the details increase depending on the proximity to the altar. In the interior space of the division, between the secular and the sacred, two niches are visible to receive holy images.
This Chapel is located in the perimeter of the Campo Maior´s Bastioned Fortification, more specifically in the Bastion of São Sebastião.
The building was completely restored during the renovation work of the fortification.
At the same time, a support building was built, attached to the Chapel, based on plans from the 18th century that gave an account of its existence.
6 – Senhor dos Aflitos´s Chapel
Inside the castle fence, the Senhor do Castelo´s Chapel or Senhor dos Aflitos´s Chapel was built in the 18th century.
Rectangular in plan with a simple façade, torn by a straight-framed portal with an oculus and topped by a curved pediment with stoves and a polychrome tile panel.
This chapel is located in the south interior of the castle. The building was built right after the 1732 explosion of the storehouse, and at present, its interior is not accessible.
7 – Santa Beatriz da Silva´s House Museum
Returning to Direita street and following Nova street and then Soalheira´s street, you will arrive at Santa Beatriz da Silva´s street, where you can visit the Santa Beatriz da Silva´s House Museum, inaugurated on September 1, 2013, the day on which it was also celebrated your liturgical feast.
The space aims to be a place for reflection and evocation of the work, life and spirituality of the first Portuguese saint, born in Campo Maior and founder of the order of the Immaculate Conception.
Currently, this monastic order has 158 monasteries in 15 countries on 4 continents, where its nuns dedicate their life to Christ, in perpetual cloister.
8 – Misericórdia´s Church
Follow Major Talaya and Ramirez streets until you find Misericórdia Street on your right, which, after turning the first lane on the left, converges with Largo da Misericórdia. Here you can see the exterior of the Misericórdia´s Church, a building from the 16th century, enlarged and remodeled in the 18th century and dedicated to Nossa Senhora da Visitação. It is worth mentioning, out of curiosity, the devotion to Santa Ana that still remains in this church today and which consists of the offer of a belt, blue or pink, depending on whether the newborn boy or girl is.
9 – Nossa Senhora do Carmo´s Chapel / Sacred Art Museum
Then we suggest a visit to Nossa Senhora do Carmo´s Chapel, attached to the São João Baptista´s Church. Built at the beginning of the 19th century, the Sacred Art Museum is currently located in this space.
10 – São Baptista´s Church
Go down São João´s street, where the São João Baptista´s Church is located.
It is a beautiful monument that dates from 1747. Its foundations are based on the remains of an old Manueline church from the 16th century, victim of the explosion of the explosion of the storehouse in castle in September 1732. The quality, consistency the architectural and decorative design of this church, whose foundation is due to D. João V, symbolize the greatness of religion and empire.
11 – Santa Beatriz niche 1
The devotion and invocation of the saints is manifested, sometimes, with the placement of images in niches on the exterior walls of buildings or in other public places.
12 – Santa Beatriz niche 2
The devotion and invocation of the saints is manifested, sometimes, with the placement of images in niches on the exterior walls of buildings or in other public places.
