São Pedro de Balsemão

Location :

The small Chapel of Sao Pedro de Balsemao, is situated in the civil parish of Sé, municipality of Lamego in the northern region of Portugal). It was a Visigothic sanctuary dating back to the 7th century, although it has Baroque elements, in particular, in the South Gate and the western facade, which adjoins a later residential building.HistoryThe chapel encompasses a period of both Visigothic dominance (6th–7th century) and the expansion of the Kingdom of Asturias (9th–10th century).In the location of the chapel, or relatively close by, was a Roman villa, which can be dated from some terminus augustalis inscriptions from the period of Claudius on parts of the building which were later used as altars.The construction of the chapel occurred in an undetermined point in the high Middle Ages. Defenders of the Visigothic chronology of events, point to an inscription dated from 588. Other arguments, enunciated by Lampérez y Romea, point to the triumphal arch and basilica-like plan that was adapted to favour its Visiothic origins. The idea of a 6th–7th century church gained favour directly and was repeated by other authors, such as Schlunk, Fernando de Almeida and Hauschild, among others. But in recent years, the hypothesis that the church was a 9th or early 10th century construction has been advanced. First, by Joaquim de Vasconcelos, who used the church of São Pedro de Lourosa (dated 912), but later by Real, Ferreira de Almeida, Barroca and Teixeira, in addition to others.By the 6th century, Balsemão was already an ecclesiastical parish.

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