Viseu Cathedral

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Viseu Cathedral
Cathedral facade

The Cathedral of Viseu ( Portuguese Sé de Viseu ) in the central Portuguese city ​​of Viseu is the seat of the diocese of Viseu . Its building history includes the Romanesque , Late Gothic , Renaissance and Baroque eras .

location

Largo da Sé (“Cathedral Square”) is located on the highest elevation of the city ​​center, which is almost 500  m high . The cathedral is oriented towards the east; to the north joins the former bishop's residence , today's Museu Grão Vasco ("Museum of the great Vasco"). This museum shows, among other things, earlier cathedral altarpieces by the painter Vasco Fernandes (1480–1543). To the right of the cathedral and cloister is a massive wall with a building at the end; the wall, which is built over like a viaduct, is accessible from the upper floor of the cloister. Opposite the cathedral at the western end of the cathedral square is the Igreja da Misericórdia , a baroque church. Since 2009, the cathedral square is from the west to the Rio Pavia located exhibition and festival grounds Viseus with a funicular railway (funicular) distance.

history

That in the year 572 by Pope John III. The diocese of Viseu that was established went under during the Islamic - Moorish occupation, but some bishops' names have survived even from this time . In 1057, King Ferdinand I of León recaptured the city (reconquista) . In the years from 1094 to 1114, the first church was built on the site of today's cathedral. The diocese, administered by the bishops of Coimbra since the Reconquista , was rebuilt in 1147, eight years after Portugal's independence. From 1289 to 1313, under King Dinis I, the new cathedral was built, which was equipped with a first cloister (claustro) in 1379 . The main portal of the cathedral was built in 1513. In the 16th century the cloister was enlarged and the sacristy was built. In the 17th century, the north tower of the facade was rebuilt in its old form after a collapse. Since then the church has remained largely unchanged in its external form; however, it was regularly renovated.

architecture

Viseu Cathedral - interior

The three-aisled cathedral is of Romanesque origin. The middle part of the facade, which was built in the Renaissance style in the 16th century - with figures and ornamental obelisks - is framed by two almost monolithic -looking bell towers with small domes with lanterns . The Romanesque archivolt portal , which has been stepped down several times, is hidden behind the Renaissance facade . In the interior of the church, which is exposed to light through unmistakable windows, high-Gothic bundle pillars with capitals adorned with leaves bear a late-Gothic Manueline vault with rope-like ribs . In memory of the time when the cathedral was the royal church of Portugal, royal coats of arms adorn the keystones . The central nave contains a new altar in front of its baroque predecessor with a canopy and twisted columns ; a richly decorated choir stalls are located on the side walls of the choir . In the right nave is the baptistery , which has largely been preserved in the original Romanesque style.

Cloister

The basement of what is now the two-story cloister was built in the 1540s. The upper part, partly richly decorated with azulejos , is from the 17th century; it serves as a museum for parts of the cathedral treasury, including a five-hundred-year-old Ivory - monstrance .

  • Cloister and towers of the cathedral

  • Bishop's tomb in the cloister

  • Figure relief in the cloister

See also

literature

  • Carlos Ruau: A Arquitectura da Sé Catedral de Viseu. In: Monumentos No. 13, Lisboa 2000
  • Alexandre Alves: A Catedral de Viseu. In: Monumentos No. 13, Lisboa 2000
  • João Luis da Inês Vaz: Espaço e tempo na Acrópole de Viseu. In: Monumentos No. 13, Lisboa 2000

Web links

Commons : Sé de Viseu  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 40 ° 39 ′ 35 "  N , 7 ° 54 ′ 39"  W.