Church of São Gião

Category: Religious Architecture > Church

District: Leiria > Nazaré > Famalicão > São Gião

Location

Located in Famalicão, 5 km south of Nazaré, in the Oeste region of Portugal.

Discovery

Found in 1961 at Quinta de São Gião, near the dunes and 500 meters from the sea, by Eduíno Borges Garcia.

Classification

National Monument since 1986.

History

, Considered one of the oldest Christian temples in Portugal and the Iberian Peninsula.

, Initially attributed to the Visigothic period, with Asturian characteristics according to some studies.

, Built on or near an ancient Roman temple dedicated to Neptune.

Architecture

, Small monastic temple with a rectangular plan and a single nave.

, Interior without windows, with wooden ceiling and exposed beams.

, Sanctuary separated from the nave by an iconostasis with a central door and two lateral windows.

, Transversal nave with horseshoe arches and Corinthian capitals.

Distinctive Elements

, Presence of a supra-absidal chamber.

, Vegetalist capitals in the iconostasis.

, Organization in floors.

, Influences of the Mozarabic style in the 10th century.

Use Over the Centuries

, Described in good condition in the 16th century.

, Used as a cattle pen from 1702, which helped in its preservation.

, Associated with the sacralization of the Nazaré Coast.

Excavations and Discoveries

, Study of Archeology of Architecture in 2003 revealed Visigothic fragments in the walls.

, Several Roman, Visigothic and medieval objects found on the farm and exhibited at the Dr. Joaquim Manso Ethnographic and Archaeological Museum.

Curiosities

, Image of the Holy Trinity, dated from the 15th or 16th centuries, found during reconstruction in 1968.

, Possible connection to the legend of Nossa Senhora da Nazaré and the sacralization of coastal sites.

Sources: https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Igreja_de_São_Gião

License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.pt