Rua Santa Eulália, in Braga
The Church of Santa Eulália is located in the parish of Tenões, in the city of Braga, northern Portugal.
Also known as Tenões Parish, it belongs to a parish that dates back to the 11th century.
This small temple is a building from the end of the 13th and beginning of the 14th century.
However, it is believed that there was a temple before this one, since, in this historical period, the cult of Saint Eulália in the Peninsula was one of the oldest because it was related to passages from the Hispanic Liturgy.
Although it underwent subsequent changes, signs of the transition to Gothic are still visible, such as the broken arch of the portal.
Also known as Tenões Parish, it belongs to a parish that dates back to the 11th century.
This small temple is a building from the end of the 13th and beginning of the 14th century.
However, it is believed that there was a temple before this one, since, in this historical period, the cult of Saint Eulália in the Peninsula was one of the oldest because it was related to passages from the Hispanic Liturgy.
Although it underwent subsequent changes, signs of the transition to Gothic are still visible, such as the broken arch of the portal.
History
The church of Santa Eulália de Tenões (or Telões, as it also appears in medieval documentation) is one of the most adulterated late-Romanesque temples in Portugal.
Its general configuration suggests that construction took place after the parish's greatest moment in the 13th century (when this territory was perfectly autonomous from neighboring Braga), already revealing the Gothic forms of the northern 14th century.
The origin of the church of Santa Eulália must be traced back to the 1800s, when Countess Ilduara Mendes owned a uilla here, that is, a steep piece of land, a fairly large slope.
However, the cult of Saint Eulália is one of the oldest in the peninsula and one of those that is most closely related to the Hispanic liturgy, so it is expected that a temple existed even before the 11th century.
Its general configuration suggests that construction took place after the parish's greatest moment in the 13th century (when this territory was perfectly autonomous from neighboring Braga), already revealing the Gothic forms of the northern 14th century.
The origin of the church of Santa Eulália must be traced back to the 1800s, when Countess Ilduara Mendes owned a uilla here, that is, a steep piece of land, a fairly large slope.
However, the cult of Saint Eulália is one of the oldest in the peninsula and one of those that is most closely related to the Hispanic liturgy, so it is expected that a temple existed even before the 11th century.
Construction
In the 13th and 14th centuries, the construction of modest churches began, with a schematic plan with two spaces: the nave and chancel, devoid of architectural and decorative features, and only remotely classified as "Romanesque" due to their rude and squat appearance.
Currently, there is a small church where the Romanesque and Gothic style predominates, but with a tendency towards Romanesque, the plan is simple and consists of a nave and chancel, both with rectangular lines, and the chancel is lower in height and smaller in width than the nave.
The main portal has a broken arch, with a single archivolt, surmounted by a frieze decorated internally with granite balls, without columns and capitals and denoting the trace of Gothic elements.
The tympanum is also quite modest, bearing in the center a consecration cross, a distant echo of the openwork crosses that characterize the Braga Romanesque style of the 12th and 13th centuries.
Currently, there is a small church where the Romanesque and Gothic style predominates, but with a tendency towards Romanesque, the plan is simple and consists of a nave and chancel, both with rectangular lines, and the chancel is lower in height and smaller in width than the nave.
The main portal has a broken arch, with a single archivolt, surmounted by a frieze decorated internally with granite balls, without columns and capitals and denoting the trace of Gothic elements.
The tympanum is also quite modest, bearing in the center a consecration cross, a distant echo of the openwork crosses that characterize the Braga Romanesque style of the 12th and 13th centuries.
Renovation
Some reformulated campaigns passed through this temple, but none of them were provided with sufficient economic and aesthetic resources to change the exterior structures of the building.
In modern times, probably in the 18th century, the sacristy was added and the triumphal arch was remodeled, certainly to "open up" the tiny interior space of the temple.
At the same time, other aspects were changed: the main façade received two fires at the ends of the gable.
Decades later, already under the sign of 19th century neo-Gothic, a new main altarpiece and several elements of liturgical furniture were created, which are still the main sets of the interior.
In 2002, the church's Manufacturing Committee sponsored a restoration that led to the replacement of the floor, filling with cement and other work.
In modern times, probably in the 18th century, the sacristy was added and the triumphal arch was remodeled, certainly to "open up" the tiny interior space of the temple.
At the same time, other aspects were changed: the main façade received two fires at the ends of the gable.
Decades later, already under the sign of 19th century neo-Gothic, a new main altarpiece and several elements of liturgical furniture were created, which are still the main sets of the interior.
In 2002, the church's Manufacturing Committee sponsored a restoration that led to the replacement of the floor, filling with cement and other work.
Facade
The Church of Santa Eulália has a simple and rectangular structure and is made up of a juxtaposition of the nave with the chancel, the latter being lower and smaller in width than the nave.
This temple has a mixture of Romanesque and Gothic, with tendencies towards Romanesque demonstrated through its small, modest and rude architecture, the portal is tendingly Gothic.
The equally simple portal with a broken arch and a single archivolt is surmounted by a frieze decorated with balls, and these are predominantly Gothic elements in the northern decoration evident in the granite of this church.
Its external configuration did not undergo any real changes, only the pinnacles were added at the ends of the gable.
This temple has a mixture of Romanesque and Gothic, with tendencies towards Romanesque demonstrated through its small, modest and rude architecture, the portal is tendingly Gothic.
The equally simple portal with a broken arch and a single archivolt is surmounted by a frieze decorated with balls, and these are predominantly Gothic elements in the northern decoration evident in the granite of this church.
Its external configuration did not undergo any real changes, only the pinnacles were added at the ends of the gable.
Interior
This temple of modest dimensions is internally composed of a nave with a rectangular plan and a chancel, also rectangular but smaller.
Classification
It has been classified as a Property of Public Interest since 1967.
