Category: Religious Architecture > Church
District: Viana do Castelo > Melgaço > Parada > Chaviães e Paços
Located in the parish of Fiães, municipality of Melgaço, Portugal.
Its construction is linked to the Cistercian Order, but some historians believe that parts of the church are even older, possibly from the 9th century, associated with the Benedictine Order. The transition between the religious orders occurred between 1173 and 1194.
The church was part of this ancient Cistercian monastery, extinct in 1834. Its dependencies were demolished after deactivation and transfer to private property.
Classified as a National Monument since 1910, maintaining much of its medieval structure despite transformations over the centuries.
Reforms in the 17th and 18th centuries altered the facade and interior. In the 50s and 60s of the 20th century, restoration campaigns were carried out without major structural modifications.
The original construction has three naves separated by arches and a Cistercian headboard of simple and austere design. The facade features a coat of arms of the Congregation of Alcobaça and a decorated ogival portal.
Highlights include a Mannerist altar and a gilded carved altarpiece from the Baroque period. The upper part of the main facade was rebuilt in the 17th century, including windows and niches with religious images.
Only fragments of the 13th-century cloister remain, including a capital with vegetal decoration.
In the south nave is the tomb of Fernão Eanes de Lima, from the 15th century, father of Leonel de Lima, the first Viscount of Vila Nova de Cerveira.
D. Filipa de Lencastre stayed overnight in the monastery when she came from England to marry D. João I.
Sources: https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Igreja_de_Fiães
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.pt
Coordinates DD: 42.104082893063875,-8.211266140171482
Coordinates DMS: 42°06'14.7"N 08°12'40.6"W
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