Where to Eat
See nearby restaurants
The foundations of the Church of the Saviour of Aveleda date back to the 11th or 12th century. In 1177, Vela Rodrigues donated the Church to the Monastery of Paço de Sousa.
The architecture and ornamentation of the current building, dating from the end of the 13th century or the beginning of the 14th century, are evocative of the long persistence of the Romanesque shapes which characterise Portuguese medieval architecture.
The main portal preserves the most evident, though very late, Romanesque elements in the columns [botanical capitals, circular shafts, bulb-like bases] and clean tympanum.
The lateral portals without columns and the modillions stripped from decoration also reflect the late character of the construction. A typically Romanesque drip-course runs along the exterior walls of the nave.
The bell-tower, the chancel and the sacristy are most likely 17th and 18th century. The collateral altars, the pulpit, the painting of the nave ceilings and the crossing arch, as well as the coffered ceiling of the chancel with symbols of the Litanies to the Virgin, are Modern Age works which also deserve a mention.
The presence of a decorated piece, which may be found in one of the steps inside the Church, may point to the former existence of an ancient Visigoth or Mozarabic construction [5th-8th centuries].
Type: Church
Classification: Public Interest Building - 1978
Route: Sousa Valley
12th century - Reference to the Church of Aveleda;
Late-13th and 14th centuries - Rebuilding of the Church;
17th and 18th centuries - Reconstruction of the main chapel and placement of the altarpieces, sacristy, bell tower and interior renovation: gilding and painting;
18th century (2nd half) - Painting the triumph arch and nave ceiling and placing of the collateral altarpieces;
19th century - Main altarpiece;
1982-83 - Conservation and restoration works; roofing, cleaning of the paint in ceilings and cross arch, restoration of the gilding, new pavement, construction of granite stone steps in the triumph arch to separate the nave from the main chapel, application of coating to the interior, opening a span in the main chapel to access the sacristy;
1998 - The Church of the Saviour of Aveleda is included in the Route of the Romanesque of Vale do Sousa;
2004 - Works for the general preservation of roofing, exterior walls and spans;
2004-2005 - Preservation of the back surface of the ceilings of the chancel, nave and sacristy;
2005 - Works of general preservation, improvement works in the sacristy and electrical wiring;
2011 - Archaeological excavations in the surroundings of the Church;
2013-2014 - Works for the general conservation of the Church, mostly at the levels of the roofs, external walls and churchyard, under the scope of the Route of the Romanesque;
2014-2015 - Works on the surrounding area of the Church, under the scope of the Route of the Romanesque.
Divine Saviour - 6th August
By appointment
Sunday - 10.30 am; Saturday - 5.30/6.30 pm (Winter/Summer)
Monument fully or partly accessible to visitors with reduced mobility.
+351 255 810 706
+351 918 116 488
visitasrr@valsousa.pt
