Sernancelhe: Former convent classified monument of public interest
The former Convent of Nossa Senhora do Carmo, in Freixinho, municipality of Sernancelhe, district of Viseu, was classified as a monument of public interest, according to an ordinance published today in Diário da República.
The ordinance, signed by Secretary of State for Culture, Ângela Carvalho Ferreira, states that “despite the architectural changes introduced in the twentieth century, in order to adapt the building for housing and tourist use, the original structures of the various bodies , including the cloister of the gathering, of square plan and granitic columns, and the church and annexed tower “.
According to the document, the classification of the former Convent of Nossa Senhora do Carmo in Freixinho, União de Freguesias de Penso e Freixinho, in the municipality of Sernancelhe, “reflects the criteria outlined in article 17 of Law no. 107/2001, of September 8, regarding the matricial character of the property, its interest as a symbolic and religious witness, its interest as a remarkable testimony of historical experiences and facts, its intrinsic aesthetic, technical and material value, its architectural and urban design, and to its extent and to what is reflected in it from the point of view of collective memory. ”
Still according to the ordinance, the property, “of a seventeenth-century institution, formed in its genesis a collection intended for the education of noble girls of limited resources, initially referred to as the Convent of St. Theresa of the Infant Jesus.”
A special protection zone (ZEP) was also established, which takes into account “the integration of the property in the surrounding rural-urban environment, where several examples of vernacular architecture are preserved, which together with the conventual structures constitute a material and symbolic witness of recognized authenticity and conceptual unity “.
“Its fixation thus aims to safeguard the old Convent in the original context, guaranteeing the perspectives of existing contemplation”, reads.
It is also mentioned that, in the context of the investigation of the procedure for establishing the SPA, the Directorate-General for Cultural Heritage, in conjunction with the Regional Directorate of Culture of the North and with the Municipality of Sernancelhe, “studied the restrictions considered appropriate , which obtained a favorable opinion from the National Council of Culture and were subject to a hearing of interested parties under the terms of the Code of Administrative Procedure.
