The Hermitage of São Tiago () is a

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

hermitage located 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 ...

Água de Pau Água de Pau is a Freguesia (Portugal), civil parish in the concelho, municipality of Lagoa (Azores), Lagoa in the Portugal, Portuguese archipelago of the Azores. The population in 2011 was 3,058, in an area of 17.46 km2. It contains the lo ...

, 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' ...

of Lagoa, on Portuguese island of São Miguel, archipelago of the

Azores The Azores ( , , ; , ), officially the Autonomous Region of the Azores (), is one of the two autonomous regions of Portugal (along with Madeira). It is an archipelago composed of nine volcanic islands in the Macaronesia region of the North Atl ...

History

The hermitage was constructed in the beginning of the 18th century for a private landowner and built alongside his residential home (but concluded before the manor house). The first pastoral visit to the hermitage occurred in 1707. In the will and testament of vicar João Pacheco Raposo (dated 6 June 1715), the former prelate referred to the hermitage as a producer of two alqueires of land. This vicar had purchased three-quarters of land and some lands with watermills, and left them to the company of St. James, with the obligation to pay eleven alqueires of wheat yearly for the Holy Sacrament of the town. In 1871, the hermitage was transferred from the property owners, and became a building of the ''Junta de Paróquia'' (parish junta). The hermitage began to operate as the funerary chapel for the parish council of Água de Pau in 1986 and was remodelled sometime in the 20th century. As part of its transformation, a project to reformulate the ''Largo de Santiago'' was begun in 1996, and inaugurated on 20 September 2003.

Architecture

The hermitage is situated on the northern edge of the settlement, in an ample square, alongside the parish council building of Água de Pau and the ''Casa do Povo''. It is encircled by steps and pavement stone and linked transversally by the lateral house. The rectangular plan consists of a single nave and presbytery with an addorsed lateral left rectangular sacristy. The facades are plastered and painted white with the main facade (oriented to the south) flanked by pilasters and cornerstones surmounted by pinnacles. This facade is terminated with cornices and surmounted by a Latin cross over a cylindrical stand. The entrance is marked by a doorway decorated with cornices and rectangular window protected by wood grade, while the rear is blind. The interior walls are plastered and painted in white, while the floors and ceiling are built in wood. The lateral door is flanked by a hemispherical baptismal pia and wardrobe, while at the top of the nave (behind the pulpit) is the door to the sacristy. A triumphal arch supported by pilasters supports the vaulted structure over wood cornices in the presbytery, dominated by a floor-size wooden crucifix and altar.

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* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hermitage of Sao Tiago Lagoa, Azores Sao Tiago