Ermida de Nossa Senhora da Conceição - Tomar, Portugal
Posted by: 
tmob
N 39° 36.347 W 008° 25.020
29S E 550049 N 4384166
The Chapel of Nossa Senhora da Conceição (Our Lady of Conception) is a 16th century chapel located in the civil parish of São João Baptista, in the municipality of Tomar, designated as a National Monument in 1910.
Waymark Code: WMDMVJ
Location: Santarém, Portugal
Date Posted: 02/02/2012
Views: 7
«The beginning of the chapel's construction began in 1535, during the priorship of Anthony of Padua, and concluded during the administration of Friar Basílio (1573). The building was one of the last constructions completed by architect João de Castilho. Initiated in 1551, with construction beginning in 1535, the temple was concluded om 1572-1573, after the death of the architect, under the direction of Diogo de Torralva.
Conceived as funerary pantheon by King John III, the chapel was innovative for the period. It was comparable to the temple of Rimini Malatestiano, designed by Leon Battista Alberti, with some motifs, including the use of windows and the "compressed interior design".
In 1711, friar Agostinho de Santa Maria referenced the temple in correspondence, referring to it as a Marian sanctuary.
An commemorative inscription was installed in 1848, following restorations completed in this church.
In 1933-1934, the General-Directorate for National Monuments and Buildings (Portuguese: Direcção Geral dos Edifícios e Monumentos Nacionais) was charged with the consolidation and reinforcement of the central vault; reconstruction of the slats, frame and roof with glazed tiles; installation of exterior wall guards; the opening of exterior cracks and reinforcing them with water-resistant cement; reinforcement of the dome with hidden iron struts; and the reconstruction of the lateral and central doors.
In 1946, a process was defined to designate the space as a zone of special protection (Portuguese: Zona Especial de Pretecção), which was published in the following year.
Between 1965-1966, the support walls, churchyard spaces and staircase were defined and expanded, which included the reinforcement of the northern, southern and western limits with cap-stone and erecting a eastern fence. The project also involved the cleaning and repair of the staircase access to the main chapel and removal of rubble from the doorway and cracks in the walls, doors, window frames and spaces. These improvements lead to the installation of exterior illumination in 1967 to attract tourism. Reconstruction of the support wall, the roofing, construction of interior doorways and painting of the exterior doors were completed at the beginning of 1970. Similar cleaning and lateral door replacement occurred by the end of 1979.»
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