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GPS 37.697796627476045, -8.081999585738135

The Church of Nossa Senhora da Conceição, also referred to as Igreja Matriz de Castro Verde and Basilica Real de Castro Verde, is located in the parish and town of Castro Verde, in the municipality of Castro Verde, in the district of Beja, in Portugal. The basilica was built in the 16th century, in honor of the Battle of Ourique, replacing an earlier church, probably built during the 15th century. It was the subject of reconstruction works in the 18th century, during which it was greatly expanded, gaining a second tower.

In 2019, a major restoration program began, which focused mainly on the roof and the painted ceiling, and which allowed the reopening of the sanctuary in 2023. The building includes a museum nucleus, the Treasury of the Royal Basilica, where various pieces are on display. council sacred. It was classified as a Monument of Public Interest in 1993, having risen to the category of National Monument in 2023.

Description

The Royal Basilica is located next to Praça do Município, in the center of Castro Verde. It consists of a large building, which easily stands out from the urban fabric of the village, being visible from a great distance. It features a floor-style planimetry, normally used in religious buildings built at the end of the 16th century, although both the facade and the interior were later modified. Its plan is longitudinal, with several volumes organized in a differentiated way. The building is surrounded by a cobbled churchyard, which is bordered by a viewpoint, Rua D. Afonso I and the Town Hall complex. The façade is divided into three registers, opening on the first to the church's main door, with a rectangular frame, flanked by Ionic pilasters and topped by a pediment where the arms of the Order of Santiago stand out. Above the portal is a window with a rectangular frame, which is later finished off by a gable. The façade is marked by two imposing bell towers, square in plan, ending in bell-shaped pinnacles and spires.

Its interior is organized in a single nave, with a rectangular section, with a smaller chancel, also rectangular in plan, and which is flanked by two annexes. The exterior sobriety of the building contrasts with the decorative richness inside, with the walls lined with around sixty thousand tiles, in a typical style of Lisbon craftsmen of 1730. The decoration is attributed to João Antunes, who stood out for his Baroque religious work in Portugal, the interior being very similar to that of the Church of Alcácer do Sal, also by João Antunes. The tiles form two distinct registers, one of them with compositions of albarradas, while the second presents several panels portraying the Battle of Ourique, the story of D. Afonso Henriques and the Miracle of Ourique. This miracle consisted of an apparition of Jesus Christ to D. Afonso Henriques, having promised him that the battle would be the genesis of a new nation, which would later spread the Christian religion throughout the world. Also noteworthy are the gilded and polychrome carvings on the altars, especially on the main altar, and various Marian images. The roof of the chancel, in a barrel vault, is also lined with tile panels, produced in 1713 in the city of Lisbon, and which portray various scenes from the life of Jesus Christ. The roof of the building, in wood, is an example of 18th century carpentry, with a large painting that also represents the miracle of the Battle of Ourique.

In one of the sacristies there is a museum nucleus, the Treasury of the Royal Basilica, where sacred pieces from various parts of the municipality have been preserved, with emphasis on the reliquary head of São Fabião, originally from Casével, from the 13th century, which is considered one of the main examples of Romanesque jewelery in the Iberian Peninsula. Other pieces include the monstrance of the Royal Basilica itself, and a 15th-century image of Santa Bárbara, made in Flanders, and an Indo-Portuguese crucifix from the 17th century, both originating from the town of Entradas. However, part of the original filling from the Johannine period has already disappeared, with important pieces such as an organ, some of the side altars, implements and reliquaries having been lost.

It is classified as a Property of Public Interest by Decree n.º 45/93, of November 30 (Diário da República n.º 280, of November 30, 1993), and is one of the reference monuments of the religious heritage of Lower Alentejo. It has a Treasury, founded in 2004 by the Department of Historical and Artistic Heritage of the Diocese of Beja and since then integrated into the Network of Museums of the Diocese of Beja. The Royal Basilica is considered one of the ex-libris of the municipality of Castro Verde, and one of the main monuments of the Diocese of Beja.

History

Background and original building

Human occupation in the place where the Basilica is located dates back at least to Roman times, with a vast collection of objects from that period being found in Travessa da Igreja, close to the building, which includes several fragments of common pottery, Campaniense and sigillata, parts of amphoras and oil lamps, and glassware.

According to the documents of the Visitations of the Order of Santiago, the Royal Basilica was installed on the site of a church dedicated to Santa Maria, also known as Nossa Senhora da Conceição, which would have been the first parish church in the village. It is not known for sure what was the founding date of the original church, although the 1510 visitation record indicates that some parts of the property, then called Igreja de Santa Maria, were in poor condition, so it may have been built during the fourteenth century. This document described the temple as being both a chapel and a church, with three naves and a tower. The chapel was square in plan, measuring 5.5 m on a side, with a brick arch and a small sacristy on the rear façade. As for the church, it was 12.10 m long and 7.7 m wide, with access through three doors, with a porch measuring 8.40 m long and 3.65 m wide. The building was based on a large churchyard, and was surrounded by a necropolis, which extended to the old chapel of Santo António, which was later replaced by the building of the Town Hall.

Documents from the 1565 visitation indicate that the building had already changed its name to Igreja de Nossa Senhora da Conceição, and that it had undergone several expansion works, including an increase in length, with part of the porch having been sacrificed. A chapel with a square vault was also built, which served as a choir, and which gave access to the sacristy.

Construction of the basilica and Johannine remodeling

After 1573, the year in which King D. Sebastião passed through Castro Verde, the church was demolished, and at that time it was already very ruined. In its place, a new temple was built, probably already with the category of basilica, which intended to honor the Portuguese victory in the Battle of Ourique, which according to tradition was fought on July 25, 1139, in the vicinity of the town of Castro Verde. The original basilica was described as having walls sixteen palms thick, a tower, two sacristies with access to the chancel, and a vaulted roof. The building had an organ and was richly decorated with marble and wood from Brazil. The basilica may have been the central point of Castro Verde, from which the town's urban fabric developed.

During the first half of the 18th century, the basilica underwent a new reconstruction program, taking on the configuration for which it is known. Work began in 1713, knowing that it was still ongoing in 1718. This intervention was carried out with the initiative and financial support of King D. João V, as Master of the Order of Santiago, who also intended to pay homage to the legendary Battle of Ourique. In addition to the structural changes, the building’s contents were also enriched, with several orders made by the monarch himself, from which he received the category of royal basilica in 1735. The nave's roof was painted between 1728 and 1731. According to documentation from the brotherhood of São Miguel, collected by researcher Abílio Pereira de Carvalho in his work História de uma Confraria (1677-1855), the basilica clock was ordered in 1784 from Diodactus Lambinon, in the city of Faro, for five hundred thousand réis, having been delivered in 1785. It was one of three clocks manufactured by this house, one of which remained in Faro and another delivered to Portimão.

20th century

According to a plaque affixed to the clock, it was repaired in April 1918 by João da Luz, head of workshops at the Fábrica de Moagens. Later, the old clock was replaced by a new system, with the original mechanism being preserved by João da Luz's son, João dos Santos Luz.

On February 2, 1969, the basilica was damaged by an earthquake. In the 1980s, human osteological remains were discovered during works in the area around the basilica, which indicate the presence of the old cemetery.

In the mid-1980s, researchers from the Portuguese Institute of Cultural Heritage carried out an inspection of the basilica, at the request of the Municipality of Castro Verde, in order to make a proposal for the classification of the building to the Secretary of State for Culture. At that time, the building had several conservation problems, with the municipality providing around ten thousand escudos to the Fabrication Commission of the Church, which should be used in the works that were considered more priority, such as the installation of electricity, plastering and roofing. In August 1987, that commission submitted a request for funding to the Directorate-General for Territorial Planning, in order to obtain financing for the works. On October 29 of that year, the President of the Republic, Mário Soares, passed through Castro Verde as part of one of his Open Presidency campaigns, having visited the basilica. The municipality handed him a memorandum, in which he regretted the building's lack of classification and its advanced state of degradation, "particularly the roof and the entire exterior covering". According to this statement, the municipality considered that the basilica should be protected as a National Monument, due to its attributes and the strong connection to the Battle of Ourique. The monument was only classified on November 30, 1993, in the category of Property of Public Interest, by Decree n.º 45.

XXI century

2000s

In January 2008, the Castro Verde O Campaniço municipal bulletin warned of the state of disrepair in which the basilica was found, with falling tiles, water infiltration, and doors and windows in poor condition, among other problems. According to that newspaper, the municipality of Castro Verde had made several requests to the Portuguese Institute of Architectural Heritage and its successor, the Institute of Architectural and Archaeological Heritage Management, to carry out conservation works in the building, but the process was delayed by bureaucratic reasons. In the middle of that year, the municipality was preparing the installation of scenic lighting equipment in the spaces surrounding the Royal Basilica and the Church of Chagas do Salvador, in order to enhance those important monuments. This plan was part of the collaboration agreement between the City Council, the Parish of Castro Verde and the Historical and Artistic Department of the Diocese of Beja, under which important initiatives were undertaken for the preservation of culture in the county, such as the opening of the Museum of the Treasury of the Royal Basilica. Between the end of 2008 and the beginning of 2009, restoration work was carried out on the basilica's door, which was in an advanced state of degradation, and the windscreen at the building's entrance was also recovered. On July 25, 2009, the municipality and the Treasury of the Royal Basilica presented the series of ten postcards Olhares I, based on photographs by the artist Nicola di Nunzio, which portray works of sacred art that are part of the collection of that museum nucleus.

2010s and 2020s

In May 2015, the basilica will host the sacred music concert Íntimo Misticismo: Hispano-Portuguese Spiritual Music from the Central and Late Renaissance, conducted by the Spanish maestro Carlos Mena, which took place within the scope of the Festival Terras Sem Sombra. In August 2016, the process for the requalification of the basilica was suspended, with the deadline for the first notice of application for EU funds ending on 27 July. This situation was criticized by the historian José António Falcão, who was then collaborating in a program for the Diocese of Beja, considering that a «golden opportunity» had been lost. In April 2017, the basilica was the stage for the play O Castelo do Barba‑Azul, by the Hungarian author Béla Bartók, performed by Academia Lizt, also organized as part of the Festival Terras Sem Sombra. The old cemetery next to the basilica was the subject of archaeological work between 2018 and 2020.

In 2018, the mayor of Castro Verde, António José Brito, criticized the advanced state of degradation in which the basilica was found, with problems in the doors, windows and tiles, although the element that aroused greater concern was the painted dome. On the 2nd of July of that year, a group of deputies from the Socialist Party visited the municipality of Castro Verde, within the scope of the Parliamentary Days, with António José Brito warning of the problems of the Royal Basilica. The mayor also met that month with the Minister of Culture, Luís Filipe de Castro Mendes, having established, according to a press release from the government, «the general lines of a strategy that allows an effective response to the problem, in a work which will necessarily involve the Parish of Castro Verde, the Diocese of Beja, owner of the building and the Regional Directorate of Culture of Alentejo». In order to draw up the program for the recovery of the building and be able to apply for EU funds, a working group was formed, comprising the municipality, the Parish of Castro Verde and the Regional Directorate of Culture of Alentejo. The advanced state of degradation of the basilica led to its closure for worship, although it continued to be open to the public, just like the museum center, although with limitations on visits. On January 23, 2019, a delegation of Toyota representatives was in the municipality of Castro Verde, having visited the Royal Basilica.

The restoration program of the Royal Basilica started in 2019, having been divided into three phases, executed in an anachronistic way. The first included cleaning the roof, restoring the doors and windows, and painting the building, with the work taking about four months. They were officially concluded on December 8, at an event attended by the Assistant Secretary of State and Regional Development, Carlos Miguel, which included a mass and a procession through the streets of the town. With the end of the works of the first phase, the religious functions in the basilica were restarted. This intervention involved an investment of more than 65 thousand Euros, having been financed by the municipality, the Union of Parishes of Castro Verde and Casével and by the government, under the BEM – Improvement of Municipal Equipment programme. The second phase cost more than 310,000 Euros and focused on restoring the roof of the basilica. The third contemplated the requalification of the narthex and the high choir, having amounted to more than fifty thousand Euros. The intervention on the roof of the church, organized by Fábrica da Igreja Paroquial da Parguesia de Castro Verde, aimed to restore the original appearance of the ceiling, which was considered by Father Luís Fernandes as «the most worked in terms of painting and art in all the extension of the Diocese of Beja».

In January 2021, the public tender for this work was published in the Diário da República, with a base value of 310 thousand euros and an execution period of twelve months, although Luís Fernandes calculated that this intervention would probably take longer, due to the very meticulous nature of the work, and the pandemic situation that was going on. This intervention was 85% financed by EU funds, within the scope of the Alentejo 2020 regional operational program, while the remaining amount was provided by the company Somincor, operator of the Neves-Corvo Mine. The third phase of the restoration work was partially financed with proceeds from tickets to temporary exhibitions at Igreja das Chagas do Salvador. Luís Fernandes intended that, during the third phase, restoration work be carried out on the molding and side walls, namely on the elements of the tympanums and half moons, an intervention that cost around 80 thousand euros. In addition, he also warned of the need to carry out rehabilitation works in other parts of the building, including the tiles, the chancel, the carvings, the side altars, the pulpits and the balustrades. On March 30, the Regional Director of Culture of the Alentejo, Ana Paula Amendoeira, visited the Royal Basilica, as part of the third phase of the works. According to Ana Paula Amendoeira, one of the purposes of this requalification program was to promote the «reclassification of the Basilica as a national monument», due to its «immense cultural and patrimonial value», a process that was also defended by Father Luís Fernandes, as a way of facilitating the tenders for future work on the building. At that time, the third phase was well advanced, but the second phase had not yet started, corresponding to the coverage of the church, which according to the Mayor, António José Brito, was «more demanding from the point of view of size». According to the mayor, this process was in the process of being approved by the Regional Directorate of Culture, in order to start work, having been financed by community funds and by Somincor, the company responsible for the Neves-Corvo mine. The Mayor, António José Brito, classified the refurbishment works of the Royal Basilica as "an example of institutional cooperation and articulation between public entities".

On February 10, 2022, the Directorate-General for Cultural Heritage issued announcement no. 21, in which it declared its interest in starting the process for the reclassification of the church as a National Monument, following a proposal of October previous year by the Division of Architectural and Archaeological Heritage of the National Council of Culture. This decision was applauded by the Mayor of Castro Verde, António José Brito, who considered it "a moment that enhances Castro Verde and its population, but also represents an act of justice towards the most important monument in the municipality, which makes all the castrenses proud». He also added that “the monument's rich history and its close connection to the founding of the nation long ago deserved this important decision. Fortunately, since 2017, it has been possible to 'join similar visions' and constructive, in a process based on the common will of the City Council and the Parish of Castro Verde. But it is fair to also highlight the role of the Government, through the Regional Directorate of Culture of Alentejo, and Somincor, as patrons and a company with notorious social responsibility».

The sanctuary officially reopened to the public in March 2023, in a ceremony that was attended by the mayor, António José Brito, and the Secretary of State for Culture, Isabel Cordeiro. This concluded the process of rehabilitation of the monument, which cost over 446 thousand euros, and which had the participation of the City Council, Fábrica Paroquial de Castro Verde, and the Regional Directorate of Culture, and the financial support of SOMINCOR and the Union of parishes of Castro Verde and Casével. On June 22 of that year, a decree was approved that changed the classification of the property as a National Monument, and the official name to Basilica Real de Castro Verde. This decision was applauded by the Mayor of Castro Verde, António José Brito, who classified it as «a very special, gratifying moment that crowns the important work of global requalification of the Basilica», having stressed that «all Catholics and all the Castrenses are to be congratulated with this classification that makes Castre Verde and the region proud», and recalled that «getting here was only possible thanks to the important work of partnership and strong articulation between the Parish, the City Council, the Regional Directorate of Cultural and the Somincor, who played a relevant role as patrons».