Igreja Senhor da Cruz, description and photos - Portugal: Barcelos (Topic)

Igreja Senhor da Cruz church description and photos - Portugal: Barcelos. Detailed information about the attraction. Description, photographs and a map showing the nearest significant objects. The title in English is Igreja Senhor da Cruz.

Photo and description

The Senor da Cruz Church is located in the southwestern corner of Plaza Republic, the central square of Barcelos. The project of the temple was designed and executed by the famous architect in Portugal, Joao Antunis, around 1705.

The domed church serves as a reminder of an event that happened two centuries earlier. According to legend, in the winter of 1504, the local shoemaker Joao Pires saw a miraculous vision in which a black cross made of clay crashed into the ground. Over time, a small chapel was built there. Later, on the site of the chapel, the Senor da Cruz church was built. Since then, every year in May, the city has hosted the impressive festival of the crosses, Feshta dash Kruzish (Festival of the Crosses). Residents wear national costumes, the city is decorated with flowers, and in the evening the sky of the city is illuminated with colorful fireworks. And in the Senor da Cruz church, while the festival lasts, the floor is strewn with flower petals in the form of a cross on the floor.

During the construction of the church, Joao Antunes used granite combined with lime mortar. This style of building construction was typical of the north of Portugal. The combination of granite with lime mortar emphasized the harmony of the architectural lines of the Baroque style in the building. The church is built in the shape of a Greek cross with rounded corners. The small building of the temple is decorated with pilasters, cornices, a balustrade with obelisks, a skylight and a bell tower.

Inside, the church has an unusual shape - octagonal. In the interior, attention is drawn to the gilded carved wooden altars, among them the altar of the 16th century with the image of the Crucifixion of Christ stands out.

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Topic: Igreja Senhor da Cruz, description and photos - Portugal: Barcelos.