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Now known as the Chapel of Our Lady of Livração, the ancient Church of Saint Martin of Fandinhães stands as a veritable enigma.
As visitors approach the building, they see what appears to be a church in ruins. Tradition narrates its dismantling and the documentation does not contradict it. The archaeological excavations (2016) confirm it by having identified the foundations of the north and south walls of the ship, in the continuation of the one currently visible to the surface.
Here several Romanesque influences intersect. The figures standing against sheets protruding in the portal can also be found in the Churches of Travanca (Amarante) and of Abragão (Penafiel).
In the churchyard, it is possible to see traces of a cornice on little arches, a common motif of the Romanesque in the basin of the river Sousa, who came to the latter via Coimbra.
The dihedral logs in the crevices show the influence of city of Porto, from the French region of Limousin.
The beak-heads [animal head with a prominent beak] on the south side crevice remind us of the influence of the Benedictine Romanesque on the Braga-Rates axis.
While most corbels feature geometric motifs, one of them presents an exhibitionist, male figure depicted naked and with his right hand on the genitals, a motif also found in the Church of Tarouquela (Cinfães).
In the churchyard, two burial covers: one with the depiction of a sword and another with an inscribed cross.
Type: Chapel
Classification: Public Interest Building – 2012
Route: Douro Valley
1258 - Fandinhães was a Church patronaged by the descendants of an archdeacon from Viseu;
13th Century (2nd half) - Construction of Church of Fandinhães, taking its remaining Romanesque traces into account;
1302 - The relatives and patrons of the Church of Saint Martin donate the right of patronage to the bishop of Porto, D. Geraldo Domingues (1300-1308);
16th century (early) - Manufacture of the Mudéjar tiles found in the main altarpiece's frontal;
1690 - First record of the Hermitage of Saint Clement in Paços de Gaiolo;
1758 - The population of the parish of Paços de Gaiolo was already concentrated mostly on the southern and western slopes of the mountain of Montedeiras:
- The patronage of Fandinhães was in the hands of the Admirals of the Kingdom;
- The Church of Fandinhães is still referred to as Saint Martin's;
Late 18th century - Saint Clement and Saint Martin are already a single parish;
1864 - The Church's nave had already been dismantled;
1912 - The collection and Chapel of Fandinhães were handed to the Portuguese Republic;
1924 - The corporation in charge of the Catholic worship requested the Chapel from the State;
2010 - Integration of the Chapel of Our Lady of Deliverance of Fandinhães in the Route of the Romanesque;
2012 - Classification of the Chapel of Fandinhães as Public Interest Building;
2015 - Archaeological surveys in the churchyard of the Chapel, under the scope of the Route of the Romanesque.
Our Lady of Deliverance – last Sunday of May
By appointment
Monument not accessible to visitors with reduced mobility.
+351 255 810 706
+351 918 116 488
visitasrr@valsousa.pt
