Description of the attraction
The Church of Santa Maria is next to the medieval castle of Bragança. Inside the fortress walls of the castle, which attracts attention with a high watchtower, there are many ancient monuments, and the Church of Santa Maria is located next to one of the outstanding monuments of Bragança, the Domus Municipalis City Hall.
The church was built in the 16th century and is considered the oldest church in Bragança. The temple is also called the Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, to which the images on the ceiling of the church are dedicated. Locals also call this church the Church of Our Lady of Sardau because the name of the first church was the Church of Nossa Senhora do Sardau. There is a legend that the image of the Mother of God was hidden in the forests and thus the shrine was saved from the hands of Muslim invaders. Later, the shrine was found in the forest, in the "habitat of green lizards" ("sardau" is translated from Portuguese as "green lizard").
The building was originally built in the Romanesque style. In the XVI-XVIII centuries, restoration work was carried out, due to which the appearance of the facade of the church changed, elements of the Baroque style were added. The high altar and the luxurious, skillfully decorated internal chapels of the temple deserve special attention. Some of the chapels date back to the 16th century. There are three naves inside the temple. The barrel-shaped ceiling, which depicts the Dormition of the Theotokos, immediately attracts the eye. The walls are decorated with paintings. The entrance portal is in baroque style and is adorned with two magnificently decorated twisted columns. The side niches of the Church of Santa Maria are also made in the Baroque style.
