Temple located in a privileged area, either by the view that
can be seen of the surrounding area, or by the sacred character of the place,
occupied since Prehistory, by a castreja civilization and where, since the
Middle Ages, a chapel with worship remained.
The Monument Temple glorifies the name of Santa Luzia,
advocate of the sight that the Cavalry Captain Luís de Andrade e Sousa resorts
to, in the extinct chapel of Santa Luzia, suffering from a severe ophthalmia.
Already convalesced, establishes the Brotherhood of Santa Luzia, as a way to
gratify the grace received.
However, it is the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the patron saint of
the monument, whose devotion to the Viannese people had been around since 1743.
But it was during the Pneumonic pandemic that the year was 1818 that the city,
weeping for its loved ones who had perished, and terrified by the violence of
such a scourge, she consecrated herself to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, promising
to climb the pilgrimage to Mount Santa Luzia every year if the pneumonics
claimed no more life. When the death was over, the Vianenses lived up to their
promise and headed up the hill where, since 1904, the temple was built. This
promise is still fulfilled today, on the Sunday closest to the liturgical feast
of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Imbued in this spirit, pilgrimages have been made, albeit
without calendar, since the previous century. It was precisely during one of
these pious ravings, on the occasion of the 1894 Festivities d'Agonia, that
Father Dias Silvares launched the idea of erecting on the mount a statue of
the Sacred Heart of Jesus, which blessed the city of Viana do Castelo, the
Minho and the whole nation. This proposal was soon enthusiastically accepted,
and at the same time indicated and admitted the name of the Minho sculptor
Aleixo Queiroz Ribeiro to execute the work.
From there to the Monument Temple was just a step. After
executing the monumental and artistic column that would support the statue, it
was found that it could not withstand its strongly forward-leaning position.
Then the statue was placed on a pedestal in front of the so-called Santa Luzia
chapel, which was not demolished until 1926. Taking advantage of the majestic
column, Miguel Ventura Terra, one of the greatest architects of his time, devised
an equal column to implant them in front of. temple to build and support two
angels. Between these two columns, Ventura Terra traced the design of a
magnificent temple, whose beauty and magnificence is only matched by the
landscape in which it operates.
The construction work began in 1904, having developed
animatedly until the proclamation of the Republic, date from which they faded
as a result of the troubled political and social context, and further slowed
down during World War I. However, the architect Miguel Nogueira, who had been
apprenticed to Ventura Terra, took over the works in 1925, being in charge of
completing his Master's project due to his passing. The following year the main
chapel of the temple was completed, having been opened for worship by the
Archbishop and Lord of Braga and Primate of the Spas. The exterior works of the
temple were completed at the end of 1943, and the interior works in 1959. The
result is an imposing chiseled granitic soft and executed by the masters of the
region led by Emídio Pereira Lima.
Architecturally, it bears similarities to the Sanctuary of
Sacré Cœur of Paris. The building features a Greek cross-centered floor plan of
Byzantine root. From the same matrix you will find the huge dome that crowns
the building, as well as the small domes that head the four towers, these
already inspired by the Romanesque style, as well as the decoration that
meanders through the facade of the building. Gothic in taste are the huge
rosettes, the largest in the Iberian Peninsula, framing the beautiful stained
glass windows that flood the interior of the church with light and color.
Inside, two angels, by Leopoldo de Almeida, offer the shields of Portugal and
Viana do Castelo to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, a replica of the bronze statue of
the entrance, carved in marble from Vila Viçosa by Martinho de Brito. The
popular attention and devotion of the vianenses is directed to the image of the
Sacred Heart of Jesus that came from the Crosier Convent, and to the image of
Saint Luzia who, along with that of the Lady of the Abbey, came from the chapel
that preceded the temple. And since we speak of images, that of Our Lady of
Fatima deserves special attention from the believing people, both Lusitanian
and Galician.
The main altar in granite and marble, and the side altars,
dedicated to Santa Luzia and the Lady of the Abbey, were carved by the hand of
Emídio Lima, as well as the pulpits of undulating lines, whose design is by
Miguel Nogueira. The three rosettes were made by the Ricardo Leone Lisbon
workshop.
The frescoes surrounding the apse of the chancel with a band
of modernist murals, divided by narrow frieze, respectively represent part of
the stations of the Way of the Cross: "Prison of Christ",
"Judgment of Christ", "Christ meets women of Jerusalem ","
Christ meets Mary "," Christ aided by Cyrenene ","
Crucifixion "," Death of Christ "," Descent from the Cross
"," Soldiers throw on the garments of Christ "; and framed,
inferiorly and superiorly, by white strip, where Latin inscription runs. The
semi-domed roof in the center is painted in shades of blue, creating the sky,
representing the Ascension of Jesus. Surrounded by beams of light and cut by
musician angels, reviving the bands of paleochristian mosaics, are authored by
Manuel Pereira da Silva.
Finally, the silver tabernacle was carved by the Porto master
goldsmith Filinto Elísio de Almeida.
Datasheet:
ARCHITECTS: João Guilherme Faria da Costa (1948); Julio de
Brito (1962); Miguel Nogueira (1926-1954), Moreira da Silva (1959); Ventura
Terra (1896). SONG: Emídio Pereira Lima (1928-1956). DESIGNER: José da Silva
Dias (1886-1887). CONTRACTOR: Francisco Gonçalves Carvalhido (1889-1890).
Sculptor: Albino Rodrigues Lima (1955); Aleixo Queirós Ribeiro (1895-1896);
Gustavo Rocha (1962); Leopoldo de Almeida (1955); Manuel Couto Viana (1934), Martinho
de Brito (1959). FOUNDER: Bell Foundry (1946); Manuel Francisco Cousinha (1952,
1971). OURIVES: Filinto de Almeida (1959). MASTERS: José Franco da Cunha
(1904); Jose da Meira (1936); Jose Rodrigues de Oliveira Lima (1904). PAINTER:
Manuel Pereira da Silva (1959). GLASS PAINTER: Ricardo Leone (1945-1947).
WATCHMAN: Serafim da Silva Jerónimo & Filhos (1986).
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