Versão portuguesa aqui.

GPS 36.96599888897727, -25.046691341687783

The Hermitage of Santo António is located in Santo António, in the parish of Santo Espírito, in the municipality of Vila do Porto, on the island of Santa Maria, in the Azores.

The hermitage is located in a valley, to the east at the foot of Pico do Cavaleiro, next to a source where the Santo António stream originates, originally called the Diogo Gil stream.

History

The hermitage was once part of the parish, under the invocation of Our Lady of Purification. With the construction of the current Church of Santo Espírito, according to information from Father Frutuoso at the end of the 16th century, "(...) This was the first parish, which belonged to the Purificação de Nossa Senhora and, when the church was moved, they cast lots which saint would be, and Santo António came out."

FIGUEIREDO (1990) records that the first mass to the Divine Holy Spirit was said in this hermitage, which is why the parish was renamed "Santo Espírito", also according to Frutuoso, who referred to the change to the Church of Santo Espírito:

"It is called Santo Espírito, where the ancients say that the first mass of the Holy Spirit was said on the island of Santa Maria, when they entered it, and from there it is still named today this parish of Santo Espírito, being later built, as it is now, invoking the Purification of Our Lady, without losing that ancient name." This hermitage was preserved for years without a patron saint, until, during the pastoral visit of the then bishop of the Diocese of Angra, D. Jerónimo Teixeira Cabral to Santa Maria in 1603, he found it in the possession of a negligent and careless butler and ordered the vicar of the parish to give the church the person who could support it. In this way, João Soares de Sousa, son of Nuno da Cunha and grandson of the 3rd captain of the donate of the same name, and his wife, D. Filipa da Cunha, for their devotion to Santo António, obliged themselves to support her, taking her into their care. By public deed made in the notes of the notary Domingos Fernandes on June 23, 1614, its patron saints were formally constituted, according to the visitation warrant of the said bishop. These same, by their wills, bound their thirds, obliging them to support and repair the hermitage, and recommended it to their descendants and successors, who managed it until the 19th century, its last administrator being the morgado João Soares de Sousa Ferreira de Albergaria Borges de Medeiros (1832).

It is mentioned by MONTE ALVERNE (1986) at the end of the 17th century.

The patron saint's feast takes place annually either on the patron saint's day (June 13th) or on the following Sunday, marked by a mass and procession to the Parish Church.

The "theatre" of Divino Espírito Santo presents an epigraphic inscription that reads "1889 / Irmandade / S. A.".

Characteristics

In plastered and whitewashed stone masonry, it has a rectangular plan with the body of the sacristy adjacent to the left side.

The façade is torn by the portal, finished off in an arch lowered over imposts, surmounted by a window, on a cornice. On this cornice there are two pinnacles.

The window has a curved lintel with simulacra of pinnacles on the jambs, and a shell on the clasp. The façade is topped by a cornice that follows the slope of the roof, topped in the center by a cross and at the ends by pinnacles.

The roof is gabled, in traditional half-round tile, topped by a double eaves.

Access is via a succession of steps and landings in front of the façade.

Versão portuguesa aqui.

GPS 36.96599888897727, -25.046691341687783

The Hermitage of Santo António is located in Santo António, in the parish of Santo Espírito, in the municipality of Vila do Porto, on the island of Santa Maria, in the Azores.

The hermitage is located in a valley, to the east at the foot of Pico do Cavaleiro, next to a source where the Santo António stream originates, originally called the Diogo Gil stream.

History

The hermitage was once part of the parish, under the invocation of Our Lady of Purification. With the construction of the current Church of Santo Espírito, according to information from Father Frutuoso at the end of the 16th century, "(...) This was the first parish, which belonged to the Purificação de Nossa Senhora and, when the church was moved, they cast lots which saint would be, and Santo António came out."

FIGUEIREDO (1990) records that the first mass to the Divine Holy Spirit was said in this hermitage, which is why the parish was renamed "Santo Espírito", also according to Frutuoso, who referred to the change to the Church of Santo Espírito:

"It is called Santo Espírito, where the ancients say that the first mass of the Holy Spirit was said on the island of Santa Maria, when they entered it, and from there it is still named today this parish of Santo Espírito, being later built, as it is now, invoking the Purification of Our Lady, without losing that ancient name." This hermitage was preserved for years without a patron saint, until, during the pastoral visit of the then bishop of the Diocese of Angra, D. Jerónimo Teixeira Cabral to Santa Maria in 1603, he found it in the possession of a negligent and careless butler and ordered the vicar of the parish to give the church the person who could support it. In this way, João Soares de Sousa, son of Nuno da Cunha and grandson of the 3rd captain of the donate of the same name, and his wife, D. Filipa da Cunha, for their devotion to Santo António, obliged themselves to support her, taking her into their care. By public deed made in the notes of the notary Domingos Fernandes on June 23, 1614, its patron saints were formally constituted, according to the visitation warrant of the said bishop. These same, by their wills, bound their thirds, obliging them to support and repair the hermitage, and recommended it to their descendants and successors, who managed it until the 19th century, its last administrator being the morgado João Soares de Sousa Ferreira de Albergaria Borges de Medeiros (1832).

It is mentioned by MONTE ALVERNE (1986) at the end of the 17th century.

The patron saint's feast takes place annually either on the patron saint's day (June 13th) or on the following Sunday, marked by a mass and procession to the Parish Church.

The "theatre" of Divino Espírito Santo presents an epigraphic inscription that reads "1889 / Irmandade / S. A.".

Characteristics

In plastered and whitewashed stone masonry, it has a rectangular plan with the body of the sacristy adjacent to the left side.

The façade is torn by the portal, finished off in an arch lowered over imposts, surmounted by a window, on a cornice. On this cornice there are two pinnacles.

The window has a curved lintel with simulacra of pinnacles on the jambs, and a shell on the clasp. The façade is topped by a cornice that follows the slope of the roof, topped in the center by a cross and at the ends by pinnacles.

The roof is gabled, in traditional half-round tile, topped by a double eaves.

Access is via a succession of steps and landings in front of the façade.