Category: Religious Architecture > Church
District: Beja > Ferreira do Alentejo > Ferreira do Alentejo e Canhestros
The ruins are located about 2.5 km from Ferreira do Alentejo, next to National Road 121. The structure stands on a small hill surrounded by extensive olive groves, a typical landscape of the Alentejo plain, offering a wide view over the cultivated fields that stretch as far as the eye can see.
The isolation of the place, flanked only by wheat fields and orchards, gives it an atmosphere of tranquility. During late afternoon, the golden Alentejo light emphasizes the ochre tones of the masonry and the contrast with the regular green of the surrounding aligned olive groves.
The temple is first mentioned in 1320 as the mother church of the ancient rural parish of Vilas Boas, since integrated into the municipality of Ferreira do Alentejo. Over the centuries, it was successively dedicated to the Nativity, the Assumption, and, in modern times, to Our Lady of Light, reflecting changes in devotion and successive reconstructions.
Severely affected by the 1755 earthquake and the subsequent collapse of its roof in the 1950s, the church lost much of its contents. Nevertheless, a fragment of a Manueline baptismal font and two 16th-century panels survived, now preserved elsewhere. The attempt at municipal classification as a Property of Interest in 2003 did not result in effective legal protection.
From the complex, the rectangular nave, now without its vault, and the square-plan chancel, crowned by a simple hemispherical dome, still survive. This cubic form covered by a dome ( the so-called kubba ) recalls influences from the Islamic period and remains a singular feature in Alentejo rural religious architecture.
The lateral buttresses, partially intact, reveal the ancient barrel-vaulted structure. Inside, the springing of the squinches that supported the dome is still visible, as are traces of eighteenth-century floral mural painting. On the ground, visitors can easily identify the perimeter of the former churchyard, where burials took place.
Silence prevails among the ruined walls, interrupted only by the distant sound of tractors and the chirping of birds that inhabit the olive groves. The absence of a roof leaves the interior open to the sky, fostering direct contact with the intense light and the aroma of the dry earth.
From the fractured dome, it is possible to frame the Alentejo horizon in photographs that highlight the relationship between the ruined heritage and the vast agricultural territory. The visit invites a moment of contemplation on the passage of time and the resilience of this ancient parish, whose remnants still narrate seven centuries of local history.
Sources: https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Igreja_Paroquial_de_Vilas_Boas
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.pt
Coordinates DD: 38.0642124923069,-8.083834602069413
Coordinates DMS: 38°03'51.2"N 08°05'1.8"W
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