Alvito’s matrix church, in the district of Beja, classified as a national monument, will receive conservation and valorization works, an investment valued at almost 650,000 euros, which should be completed by mid 2027.
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09/11/2026
by
Lusa
works church Alvito
A alvito matrix church, in the district of Beja, classified as a national monument, will receive conservation and valorization works, an investment valued at almost 650,000 euros, which should be completed in mid 2027.
The intervention, already awarded, has an execution period of eight months and is promoted by the House of Alvito, in a total investment of EUR 649.195.46 (plus VAT), financed through the Cultural Heritage Safeguard Fund, under an agreement between the Alentejo municipality, the public company STAMO and the Cultural Heritage – Public Institute.
“ We are talking about a national monument that is already completely degraded and that has long been lacking in its recovery. And that's what's going to happen now, the result of a lot of work ", told Lusa agency today the mayor, José Efigeno (PS).
According to the Alentejo mayor, “the state of degradation to which the church arrived is a pity of soul”.
In this context, José Efigeno pointed out, the undertaking “will mostly focus on the exterior of the building”, but “it will also have some improvement in the interior, namely on pillars”.
According to the descriptive memory of the intervention, consulted by Lusa, it is foreseen “the cleaning and consolidation of the song of the facades, gargoyles and pinnacles, the restoration of the sgrafitos of the nascent facade, the repair of about 1,150 m2 of roof and the renewal of the plasters and the caiação, in the exterior and inside”.
“ There will also be painted doors and windows, installed protection against pigeons in the spans, reinforced the wooden structure of the bell tower and repaired the heads of bells ", can be read.
After these works, “the next step will be the recovery of the altars and the entire interior of the church”, the mayor José Efigeno said.
The matrix church of the Alvito, which would be dedicated to Our Lady of the Assumption, was built from the roots in the late 13th century and expanded between 1480 and 1554, when she acquired the present feature.
Between 1534 and 1547 a part of the building was demolished and rebuilt, and later between 1553 and 1559, by the order of Cardinal D. Henrique, a new main chapel arose, which received, before 1625, a tiled coating in monochromatic, blue and white chess.
Outside the church are projected gothic gargoyles, fantastic animals or small demons that seem to pour rainwaters as if they expelled evil and, in the rest of the church, other manuelins, in the form of cannon.
The building was classified as a national monument on May 16, 1939.