0 Likes
Misericórdias were instituted in Portugal with the high patronage of Queen D. Leonor, from 1498, with the purpose of assisting the poor and sick. The Misericórdia de Penamacor certainly dates from the reign of D. Manuel I (1495-1521), at which time the town recorded a remarkable surge of urban growth, attested by the numerous architectural notes spread throughout the suburbs, with characteristically Manueline features, the best of which An example is the beautiful portal of the church itself, with its archivolts decorated with plant motifs, typical of the Portuguese final Gothic. Inside, the main altar stands out, carved in a national style, as well as the magnificent images of Nossa Senhora das Dores and Senhor dos Passos, which occupy the lateral altars. At the door of Misericórdia it worked, until the first quarter of the century. XX, the wheel of the exposed, artifice by which the newborns were found. By tradition, which still remains, it is up to the Misericórdia bell to announce the death of the natives of the village.
...