Church of the Jesuit College

About

The Church of the Jesuit College (Portuguese: Igreja do Colégio dos Jesuítas de Ponta Delgada), is a church in the municipality of Ponta Delgada, in the civil parish of São Sebastião, part of the historic centre of regional centre. It was also known as the Church of All Saints (Portuguese: Igreja de Todos-os-Santos), when the temple was constructed by the early settlers to the island.

The first record associated with the College Church came from a deed on 26 November 1568 by João Lopes, who willed a 20-year allotment of 30 móios of wheat to the Company of Jesus, until such time a college was founded. A similar proposal was made by the College of São Lourenço in Porto, and later Grégorio Afonso provided one moio of wheat in his testament of 23 March 1572. The first Jesuits arrived in Angra do Heroísmo on 1 July 1570, two priests then travelled to São Miguel between August and September of the same year.

Three priests travelling to Angra between 1572 and 1573 were forced to shelter in São Miguel. They were collected by João Lopes, who offered them shelter, while urging them to remain in Ponta Delgada in order to found a college on the island. But, it was only in about 1588 when João Lopes was able to help begin constructing the building; he acquired various houses around the current location, paying between 700$000 and 800$000 réis, while Manuel da Costa offered other buildings.

In January 1591, the residences for the college of Todos os Santos ( all saints ) were founded, and donated to the municipal government. At this time, Francisco Rodovalho donated eight alqueires of land alongside the college, João Moreira a few houses (which were destroyed for the construction), and the Quinta da Fajã was purchased for the college by João Lopes, Gaspar do Rego de Sousa and Francisco do Rego de Sá, in order provide an economic base to support the institution. The first cornerstone was erected on 1 December 1592 by the local governor, Gonçalo Vaz Coutinho on All Saints Day. Later that year the first prelate of the residence, Father Fernão Guerreiro, was appointed to the college, and the institution first opened on 1 November. On 28 February 1593, the Church of Todos os Santos was first inaugurated.

But, by 1597, a proposal to close the college had been addressed (which remained operational), yet, in 1600, the municipal government requested that the college provide classes in Latin for the island. This was accomplished in Ribeira Grande during the 17th century, when a school for Latin and Moral Theology was opened.

Starting in 1623 the second-floor of the college was constructed (completed in 1627), the college also purchased the Quinta da Grimanesa in Fajã de Cima, where a house and cistern was constructed. Shortly later (13 September 1625), the historian Agostinho de Monte Alverne indicates that the church was also renovated.

The establishment of the Confraria de Nossa Senhora da Vida ( Brotherhood of Our Lady of Life ) by the officials of the city in 1625, allowed the gold-leafing of the retable in the church and the purchase of an image from Lisbon. This was followed by the founding of the Confraria dos Estudantes ( Brotherhood of Students ) on 5 July 1625. On 2 January 1629, Captain-General Rodrigo Lobo da Silveira, petitioned the general company for the authority to create the Confraria de Santo Inácio ( Brotherhood of Saint Ignatius ), and ordered two paintings of the Saint for the Church. But, in 1630, with the transferring of the Captain-General to Lisbon, the rector (Father Luís Lopes) dissolved the Brotherhood. Later, another brotherhood, the Confraria of São Francisco Xavier was established in 1632, and joined with the brotherhood of Nossa Senhora da Anunciada (becoming the patron saint of the municipality) and supported by an annual 5$000 réis festival. By 1636, the college began operating with its own rector, until this time it was overseen by the bishopric of Angra.

The church was reconstructed in the first half of the 17th century, taking on the design and grandeur now recognizable. On 10 January 1637, owing to its early construction in wood (the columns specifically), a new church was begun to replace the original college church (although there was no record of its completion). The retable in the interior was completed between 1643 and 1646. At one point a small hermitage (called the Portuguese : Ermitério das Furnas ) was also built around 1639 (with no vestiges), and later (1643) the Company of Jesus constructed another hermitage dedicated to Nossa Senhora de Belém ( Our Lady of Bethlehem ) in the vicinity (receiving houses in the locality, where they constructed a farm for rest and relaxation).

The much celebrated priest and theologian Father António Vieira celebrated mass on the feast day of Saint Teresa, on 15 October 1654 in the church, shortly before the beginning of another series of renovations (1657).

Between 1665 and 1666, the church was expanded and the current façade was completed, helped by the patronage of the local residents, such as Maria Luís who, in her 10 January will, left money for the construction for the new church (specifically the clock-tower mechanisms). Ironically, though, the clock-tower was never completed or demolished later, as was indicated by Jorge Gamboa de Vasconcelos. At this time there were eight high altars within the interior nave dedicated to: Santo Cristo ( Jesus Christ ), Saint Francis Xavier, Our Lady of Life, the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Our Lady of Victory, Saint Anthony of Padua, Saint Francis of Borja and Saint Stanislau.

On 13 July 1732, Pope Clement XII conferred on the college the institution of Santíssimo Coração de Jesus ( Sacred Heart of Jesus ); the complement of religious groups then included: the Brotherhood of Saint Francis Xavier, Brotherhood of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Brotherhood of Our Lady of Victory, Brotherhood of Our Lady of Life and Brotherhood of Students.

In 1737, there were a couple of important artistic projects: the installation of the azulejo panels on the lateral walls of the main chapel, attributed to Bartolomeu Antunes; and the restoration of the main façade, owing to a 400$000 gift received from the estate of José Araújo Cerqueira (the façade would not be completed at the time of the expulsion of the Jesuits). Two years later, though, there was a secondary expansion of the church that also included remodelling of the front façade.

With the crisis caused by the Marquess of Pombal's expulsion of the religious orders from Portugal (as a result of the attempted assassination of King Joseph I of Portugal ), the Jesuit school was vacated and classes discontinued on 23 June 1759. This was followed, on 4 July 1760, by the expulsion of the Company of Jesus, and although the church remained open for worship (its maintenance secured by the Fazenda Real, or Royal Estates ), an inventory of the college's property was collected for sale and the antiquities within the college were dispersed. It was in the library of the college that some of the important documents in the history of the Azores were found, including the original manuscript for Saudades da Terra by Gaspar Frutuoso. During this latter part of the 18th century, the Marquess of Angeja and his family supported the local community and provided liturgical teaching in the vacuum of religion.

A rich merchant, Nicolau Maria Raposo do Amaral, indicated his interest in acquiring the property of the Jesuits, since he already maintained a fish salting business on the property and wanted to secure his property and chattel from constant theft. Between 1765 and 1768, the college was repaired by master mason João Ferreira and carpenter José Martins. The lands and property encircling the college were eventually acquired by Felícia Tomásia Pim da Câmara, and Nicolau Maria Raposo do Amaral for 1,920$000 réis, excluding the college church in July 1787. One of Nicolau Maria Raposo's first actions was to destroy the old cistern to make a water tank with bench, as his family occupied the property converting the Jesuit retreat into personal household.

By 1800, the church was opened by Erário Régio, yet only five lateral retables of the original ten remained intact.

The church was sold to the State on 14 August 1834, in a public sale, after a period where it was abandoned.

The buildings of the college served successively as a storage space, a stonemason's shop, and finally to warehouse materials used in civil construction projects for the regional authority. It was finally left abandoned in 1960.

The church found new life after 1 January 1911, when the landowner José Maria Raposo do Amaral (son of Nicolau Maria Raposo do Amaral) paid to have masses celebrated every Sunday. The first mast celebrated after the 5 October 1910 Revolution was held by monsignor José Gomes. Finally, the owners of the Church, namely Maria Clotilde Raposo de Amaral Viveiros and Maria das Mercês Fisher Berquó Poças Falcão, donated the Church to the Câmara Municipal of Ponta Delgada in 1969, after the refusal of the Diocese of Angra.

In 1974, the municipal government petitioned the DGEMN to reconstruct the clock-tower, and demolish a pre-existing annex used by a shipowner (who had constructed his offices here since it offered a clear view of the sea, allowing him to prepare his ships for loading/unloading). The proposal was submitted to the Direcção-Geral de Assuntos Culturais ( General Directorate on Cultural Issues ). While the church was given from the city government to the Regional Government in 1977, it wasn't until 1993 before the first modern renovations were started by the Secretaria Regional de Educação e Cultura ( Regional Secretariate for Education and Culture ). During these recuperations a tunnel staircase and room was discovered partially destroyed in the main courtyard, which was the accessway and older cistern destroyed when Nicolau Maria Raposo's family occupied the land.

In October 1995 a project to completely consolidate the church, sacristy, ante-sacristy and small area of the historical college, was begun by A2P-Consult, under the supervision of the Laboratório Regional de Engenharia ( Engineering Regional Laboratory ), and on 21 September 2001 the Biblioteca Pública e Arquivo de Ponta Delgada ( Ponta Delgada Public Library and Archive ) occupies one of the buildings. This space was augmented in 2004, with a museum designation (to handle its permanent collection) and a 550 million Euro face-lift, that was official inaugurated on 20 August 2004. Since 2004, this space has held the permanent collection of religious art belonging to the Carlos Machado Museum, including the painting A Coroação da Virgem by Vasco Pereira Lusitano (1535–1609).