S. Filipe Nery Convent Church

The foundation of an Oratorian house in Freixo de Espada à Cinta led Father Francisco da Silva to ask the town council, in 1673, to cede the Church of Nossa Senhora do Vilar, which existed here and was unused. The urban vocation associated with the Oratorians, seen from a development perspective, was the driving force behind the introduction of new educational and cultural developments in the province. Of the initial chapel, dedicated to Santa Maria do Vilar, we only know what appears in the graphic record of Duarte D'Armas at the beginning of the 16th century, a temple close to the population center with a nave and chancel, lower and narrower, with a bell tower set back from the main façade, to which it was connected by a wall. The Oratorians began a campaign of works in the following years, which resulted in the alteration of the complex, which had not yet been completed in 1834, when the religious orders were abolished. The church and convent are characterized by their clean lines and unified internal appearance with a longitudinal plan comprising a single nave and transept, horizontally articulated volumes with a differentiated gable roof in the nave and a zenithal lighting opening ending in a lantern in the chancel. The main façade faces south and has two sections separated by pilasters. The section of the façade that corresponds to the nave of the church is topped at the entablature level by a pediment topped by a Latin cross. Despite the advanced date of its construction, it is part of the "chã" architectural models, a more sober and classical current of Baroque experiments. Sold to private individuals after the extinction of the Oratorians, it was donated by the family that owned it in 1993 to the Church of Freixo de Espada à Cinta. The project to turn the former convent into a Missionary Museum, in honor of the Oratory Congregation, dates back to the end of 2002. In 2006 it was recognized as a Property of Public Interest.