Domus Municipalis | |
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Antigos Paços Municipais de Bragança | |
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General information | |
Type | Municipal hall |
Architectural style | Romanesque |
Location | Santa Maria |
Country | Portugal |
Coordinates | 41°48′12.81″N 6°44′55.96″W / 41.8035583°N 6.7488778°W |
Opened | fl. 1250 |
Owner | Portuguese Republic |
Technical details | |
Material | Granite |
The Domus Municipalis ( Latin: municipal house) is a Romanesque building in the northeastern municipality of Bragança in Portugal. The exact function of this building, even after research completed in the 20th century, is still largely unknown: it could have served as cistern, but there are doubts if this was its primary function.
A singular (enigmatic) building of Romanesque civic architecture, it is an eloquent extension of the medieval prison tower that it juxtaposes. [1] Its construction was, most likely, in the first half of the 13th century, coinciding with the foundation of the cistern. [1] [2]
In 1501, in the published writings of the Abbot of Baçal, the author referred to the local record of Martim Anes, who spoke of the construction of the Domus during his lifetime. [2] In this account, Martin Anes stated that it was used as a meeting place for the "good men" of the municipality. By 1503, the Domus was remodelled to partition the hall into two divisions to formalize its use as municipal hall. [2]
Its designation, Domus Municipalis, actually dates back to the 19th century. [1] [2]
Although the building was classified by the Instituto Português do Património Arquitectónico (IPPAR) as a National Monument in 1910, by 1912, the building was in a state of degradation, without appropriate roof and used by squatters and the poor as shelter. [2] Restoration of the building was completed in 1936 by the Direcção-Geral dos Edifícios e Monumentos Nacionais (English: General-Directorate for Buildings and National Monuments), or DGEMN (which evolved to become the Instituto de Gestão do Património Arquitectónico e Arqueológico (IGESPAR)). [2] Similar restorations were undertaken in 1959 by the Serviços dos Monumentos Nacionais (English: National Monument Services), before being taken over on 1 June 1992 by the IPPAR by decree 106F/92. [2]
Located in the Terreiro do Castelo alongside the Church of Santa Maria, the structure is based on a multi-level irregular pentagon, constructed of rounded granite blocks and held together by mortar, while covered by wooden roof tiles. [2]
The Domus is constituted by two distinct spaces: the primitive cistern (documented after 1446), in order to store spring water; and a superior space that served as a gathering place for meetings of the "good men" of the community. [1] It was in the first years of the 16th century that the municipalization of Bragança, from documents dated 1503. [1]
In many of the documents, the building is referred to as the Sala da Água (English: Hall of Water). [2]
One of the shields has been identified to have been sculpted during the modern era. [2] Carlos Alberto Ferreira de Almeida noted that the other medallions, the diamond-shaped openings and the organization of windows, date the structure the beginning of the 14th century, or end of the 13th century. [2] Near one of the entrances is a bronze plaque used by the archaeologist Gomez Moreno to indicate his investigations in the structure. [2]
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