Parish Church of Our Lady of Remedies (Carcavelos, Portugal)

On this page

I . History

II . Description

III . Our Lady of Remedies

I . HISTORY

The early church of Our Lady of Remedies was built in a rural area not too far from the coastline, presumably in the early 17^th century, a period marked by frequent pirate and corsair raids. Then, it was part of the Cascais Municipality.

According to the Parish Memories, the church held the venerable image of the Lady of Remedies, and the side altars were dedicated to Our Lady of the Rosary and to Christ Crucified; it was also house to The Brotherhood of the Blessed Sacrament.

The 1755 earthquake damaged the church severely. Largely due to the relatively poor area where it stood, reconstruction was lengthy and difficult, and works extended to the end of the 18^th century. As referred by the Count of Vila Verde, D. Diogo de Noronha (1747-1806), a Minister of the Kingdom, in 1804, no parish priest was appointed, on the grounds of an extreme shortage of resources. In 1870, with the extinction of the Brotherhood of the Blessed Sacrament, the ownership of the church contents - including a precious silver chalice/monstrance - was transferred to the Parish of Carcavelos.

In the late 19^th century, although the building was visibly degraded, masses continued to take place in the church.

In 1910, in the aftermath of the implantation of the Republic, and due to general lack of resources, the church was closed down, and a troubled period followed. Broken into in 1913, the church had highly valuable images and sacred implements destroyed in the heist.

In 1918, presumably on the initiative of Dr. José Cardoso Meneses Martins (1873-1954), the administrator of the Cascais Municipality, measures were taken to preserve the remaining contents of the church, one of which was the prohibition to sell any tile panels. A few restoration works took place the following year, with the intervention of painter Pereira Cão (1841-1921), after which masses were held again in the church.

During the second half of the 20^th century and the early 21^st century, a number of conservation and restoration campaigns were set in motion to recover the admirable tile set that makes this one of the most interesting churches in the outskirts of Lisbon.

II . DESCRIPTION

The parish church of Our Lady of Remedies is situated in what used to be the centre of the Town of Carcavelos.

The south-facing main façade features the entrance portal at the centre, topped by the face of the old sundial; the window and the choir eye-window; and the cross, on the top front. The small bell tower rises on the western side. At the rear stands the original hemispheric dome with skylight over the chancel.

Inside the church, the tiling of the nave, the transept and the chancel – mostly from the 17^th century – provides the set with singular luminosity.

At the entrance, on the left-hand side is the baptismal chapel, with its walls fully covered in polychromatic tiles and its stonework baptismal font. On the right-hand side rests the shell-shaped holy water font, also in stonework.

The walls in the nave are lined in 17^th-century polychromatic tiles up to half of their height. Highlight goes to the old polychromatic marble pulpit, also dating back to the 17^th century.

Flanking the triumphal arch, the side altars are dedicated to Our Lady of Mount Carmel and to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The niches have rose and white marble frames and the 17^th-century altar frontals are framed in polychromatic marble. Together, they form a matching set with the pulpit.

Through the triumphal arch one accesses the glorious area of the transept and the chancel, both fully tiled, with small figurative panels, an architectural and artistic ensemble of impressive beauty and harmony, in honour of the Holy Virgin, to whom the whole church is dedicated.

In the transept, at the entrance arch, the former confessionals are integrated in the fully tiled side walls. Truly original are the tympanum-like shell shapes of the top. Small tile figurative panels represent scenes from the life of Saint Anthony: St. Anthony Healing a Child and St. Anthony Preaching to the Fish.

The dome over the transept lends extra grandeur to the space. It lies on magnificent polychromatic pendants tiled with albarradas [compositions with vases of flowers]. Especially notorious are the caryatids of the pendants next to the high altar, attributed to Gabriel del Barco (1649-c.1703).

The arches that enclose the transept show twenty panels, mainly displaying the Mysteries of the Rosary. The whole composition stands out for including several and repeated scenes from the joyful mysteries, all grouped in the panel Our Lady Queen of Heaven.

The Joyful Mysteries sit over the entrance arch of the transept – The Adoration of the Magi, The Adoration of the Shepherds, The Visitation of the Virgin to Saint Elizabeth, The Circumcision, The Presentation of Jesus in the Temple; and, over the arch of the chancel – The Annunciation, The Wedding of the Virgin, The Adoration of the Magi, and The Birth of Jesus.

On the left hand-side lie the Sorrowful Mysteries: The Agony of Our Lord in the Garden, The Flagellation, The Crowning with Thorns, Jesus Carrying the Cross on the Way to the Calvary, The Crucifixion. On the right-hand side are represented the Glorious Mysteries – The Resurrection, The Ascension of Our Lord to Heaven, The Pentecost, The Assumption of the Virgin, The Coronation of Our Lady.

Other figurative panels can be seen over the side doors, representing Saint Joseph and the Child Saviour of the World and Saint Francis receiving the Stigmata; Hermit Saints are displayed over the doors of the confessionals.

Recent imagens of Saint Joseph and Our Lady of Fatima are shown in the side niches of the transept.

In the main altarpiece the venerable image of Our Lady of Remedies takes pride of place. Particularly outstanding are the tiled niches, with images of Saint Anthony and Saint Sebastian, as well as the panels representing Angels with flower garlands on either side of the Virgin’s tribune. Near the tabernacle there are two panels representing Angels with Marian symbols – The Ark of the Covenant and the Star.

The credences on the sides are integrated in niches – similarly to the confessionals -, with figurative panels representing Our Lady, Jesus and Saint John the Baptist, and The Holy Family.

The church of Carcavelos also houses a monochromatic wooden image of Our Lady of Fatima, a gift from Captain Paulino Tallone de Jesus, brought from the former chapel of packet liner Príncipe Perfeito (1961-1976).

III . OUR LADY OF REMEDIES

The invocation of Our Lady of Remedies first appeared within the Order of the Most Holy Trinity, founded in the late 12^th century by Saint John of Matha and Saint Felix of Valois with the primary purpose of rescuing prisoners, mainly Christian captives, held by the Moors.

The invocation originated after an episode in which Saint John of Matha (1160-1213), lacking the required amount to rescue the captives, allegedly asked for the Virgin’s help. Tradition has it that Our Lady appeared to him and gave him a bag of money – the remedy for the situation he was in.

This devotion is usually associated with the Order of the Most Holy Trinity, mainly in the regions where the Order has settled.

In Portugal, the worship of Our Lady of Remedies was first introduced by French Trinitarian clergymen who arrived in Lisbon in 1217, and slowly spread to the rest of the territory. The invocation has grown in meaning, and is now reputed to rescue or set sufferers free from all kinds of afflictions, being considered the most effective medicine to cure every illness of both the body and the soul.

Altars, churches and chapels multiplied and large sanctuaries were built under the invocation of Our Lady of Remedies, not only in Portugal but also in regions once ruled by the Portuguese, particularly in Brazil, Africa and India. Our Lady of Remedies is also the patron of many parishes, such as the case of Carcavelos.

Our Lady of Remedies is represented holding the Child and often, in earlier representations, holding a bag in her right hand – a reference to the rescue of the captives. In later representations, she is depicted with a crown and a sceptre – Queen of Heaven -, just like the image placed in the Parish of Carcavelos.

References

• CARDOSO, Luís, Diccionario geografico, ou noticia historica de todas as cidades, villas, lugares, e aldeas, rios, ribeiras, e serras dos Reynos de Portugal, e Algarve, (...), Lisboa, Regia Officina Sylviana, e da Academia Real, 1747-1751.

• MECO, José, Azulejaria Portuguesa, Lisboa, Bertrand Editora, Colecção Património Português, 1985
• REIS, Jacinto, Invocações de Nossa Senhora em Portugal de Aquém e de Além-mar e seu Padroado, [S.l.: s.n.]. Lisboa, Tipografia da União Gráfica.1967