Filippo Terzi

Cloisters of Terzi's Convento de Cristo in Tomar

The rebuilt São Sebastião aqueduct of Coimbra

Filippo Terzi (Portuguese also Filipe Terzio , * 1520 (?) In Bologna , † 1597 in Setúbal ) was an Italian architect and builder in the service of the Portuguese kings.

The exact date of Terzi's birth is not known, all that is known is that he was born in Bologna, possibly in 1520. Nor is it known exactly when he arrived in Portugal. However, it is certain that this happened during the reign of King Sebastian , and that he was already working in Lisbon in 1577 . He had been signed the year before.

In the following year Terzi, already in the position of chief builder and together with the architect Nicolau de Frias , accompanied the Portuguese king on his expedition to Morocco. He was captured in the Battle of Alcácer-Quibir and did not return to Portugal until 1579, thanks to the efforts of the then Cardinal Henry in the ransom negotiations.

In 1583 he was sent to Coimbra to oversee work on the bridge over the Mondego River and on the São Francisco and Santa Clara monasteries. There he continued the reconstruction of the São Sebastião aqueduct and was appointed builder of the monastery in the city of Tomar on January 22, 1584 . In Tomar, buildings such as the aqueduct and the famous Claustro de D. João III cloister in the Convento de Cristo and the Ermida de Nossa Senhora da Conceição church are a reminder of his work. By decree of June 28, 1590, King Philip II appointed him master builder for all work that was done at my expense , making him practically general builder of the kingdom and in this position replaced the late António Rodrigues . In this role he also trained architects. For this reason, he set up an architecture school that began operating in Paço da Ribeira as early as 1594 . Sousa Viterbo later commented that Terzi was apparently our country's first official architecture professor .

In exercising his role as royal builder, Terzi traveled all over the country and directed construction work in various places, with the work in Coimbra and Palmela standing out. In Palmela he was entrusted with the rebuilding of the city's monastery, while in Coimbra he led the repair work on the Mondego Bridge and supervised the construction of the Colégio de Santo Agostinho . Some buildings in Lisbon are also attributed to him, although his authorship is not documented in any of the cases. This includes the tower in Paço da Ribeira, which Philip II had built at the extreme south end of this palace, but which Juan de Herrera , the architect of the Spanish crown, could also have built. He could also have been responsible for the design and construction of the church and monastery of São Vicente de Fora .

Individual evidence

1. ^ ^{A b c d} Teresa AS Duarte Ferreira: TERZI, Filippo, 1520? -1597. Biblioteca Nacional de Portugal, 2004, accessed December 8, 2013 .