Church of St. Martinho de Candoso

Very cozy place with a nursery next door

Excellent example of the Portuguese cultural heritage.

The church. Martinho is very beautiful.

Historic

Very old, but very beautiful

Rustic in its charm

A monument full of history. Picturesque but pleasant where each stone has something to tell us.

As there is no relevant evidence to support its chronology, the date of its construction is not known for sure. We only know that it already existed in 1043, leaving the question of whether it already existed before the 11th century. The Portuguese historian António Lino Neto argues that there would have been a Visigothic temple on the site. This temple has been classified as a National Monument since 1910. It has Romanesque and Neoclassical architecture, having undergone major later renovations, especially in the Neoclassical style. From the primitive construction, remains of the dog with cantilevers carved with figures of animals and human beings and the triumphal arch. Side altarpieces from the end of the 17th century and remaining essentially neoclassical decoration. It has a longitudinal plan composed of a single nave and chancel, rectangular, bell tower and annexes to the south. Articulated volumes with different gable roofs in the church and one in the annexes. Main facade facing west, with a significantly undulating gable topped by a cross and pinnacles in the alignment of the corners. The side facades have a cornice based on a frieze of simple and decorated cantilevers. The tower has a bell tower on the west facade and two on the south, with the cornice on both topped by fires. Nave with wooden windshield with colored glass, high choir with wooden balustrade, altar in polychrome carving on the Gospel side and square pulpit in the same type of carving on the Epistle side, symmetrically placed, and two other carving side altars gilded at the top of the nave, dating from the 17th century and in Baroque style. In the chancel there is an altarpiece with polychrome carvings and a curved profile ceiling with decorative painting. The church is curious to have an entrance for men and another for women, an interesting testimony to the culture of the time, when inside the temple the men were in the front and the women in the back, separated during the acts of worship.