The Church of Nossa Senhora da Anunciação () is a 12th-century

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

and former mosque in the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

of Mértola in the

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

Mértola Mértola (), officially the Town of Mértola (), is a town and municipality in southeastern Portuguese Alentejo near the Spanish border. In 2011, the population was 7,274, in an area of approximately : it is the sixth-largest municipality in Portu ...

, in the Portuguese

Alentejo Alentejo ( , , ) is a geographical, historical, and cultural region of south–central and southern Portugal. In Portuguese, its name means "beyond the Tagus" (). Alentejo includes the regions of Alto Alentejo Province, Alto Alentejo and Bai ...

History

The building was likely built at the end of the 12th century as a

mosque A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were si ...

. But, by the 13th century, the building had already become transformed into a Christian church, and its altar relocated to the northern wall. It was re-installed in the east sometime at the end of the 15th century. In 1506, Duarte de Armas represented the church with a timber roof truss and a minaret/tower.Almeida (1943) By the middle of the 16th century, though, Pedro Dias described the changes to the building: the minaret had already been substituted for a belltower and the roofline had become adorned with merlons, which crown the roof of the building (authored by Fernão Pires). Between the 17th and 18th century, the belltower was redecorated. On 2 February 1969, the region experienced an earthquake resulting in damage to buildings on the hilltop, including the church.

Architecture

The church is located on an isolated hilltop, implanted on the steep slopes below the Castle of Mértola, but dominating the northern aspect of the town, on terraces above the Guadiana River. Its principal facade is situated along a roadway delimited by wall across (PT040209040017), and nearby the Chapel of Calvário. The plan consists of a large, rectangular nave, rectangular annex (in the north), a pentagonal

mihrab ''Mihrab'' (, ', pl. ') is a niche in the wall of a mosque that indicates the ''qibla'', the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca towards which Muslims should face when praying. The wall in which a ''mihrab'' appears is thus the "''qibla'' wall". ...

(in the east) and a square bell tower (in the southeast) all covered in differentiated tile roof. The four facades are crowned by triangular staccato merlons, alternating along the lateral walls with conical pinnacles and chamfered merlons. The principal facade, oriented on an angle to the south, one of the pinnacles acts as decoration and cylindrical buttress (in the left corner), adjoining the prismatic bell tower with windows in the upper section and fogaréus in the four corners. Attached to the middle axis of the facade, is a three-storey buttress of differing molding that ends in a conical pinnacle. To its right, in decentered position, is a rectangular portico framed by low relief and colonnades, surmounted by molded oculus. On the rear facade, is a prismatic annex and an oblique archway portal framed by

alfiz The alfiz (, from Andalusi Arabic ''alḥíz'', from Standard Arabic ''alḥáyyiz'', meaning 'the container';Al ...

. On the right lateral facade is the faceted volume of the mihrab. Several buttresses reinforce the main elevation and the lateral elevations, one of them disposed in a diagonal, another flying buttress.

Interior

The interior consists of five naves, divided into four sections (with a central nave) and the last wider section forming a "T", covered by ogive/cross vaults on cylindrical column/shafts and corbels attached to the walls. The section in front of the mihrab/main altar is covered by vault with stars. A rounded archway/niche on columns into the eastern wall, framing the niche-shaped mihrab, with polylobal, stucco blind arches and the nimbar. Four doors under vaulted archways are framed by alfizes, one open in the east and three to the north.

References

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