A igreja de Santa Maria de Almoster. Edifício, lugar e território.

Abstract

Located in a recess halfway up the slope of the Almoster river valley, the church of Santa Maria de Almoster is isolated and surprisingly far from the populations it serves - the Casais de Santa Maria and the Casal da Charneca. Very little is known about the origins and evolution of the church, despite being located within the territory of the Almoster river basin where there are strong traces of human presence since prehistory. The church dates back to the 13th century - at the time a small chapel in honor of Our Lady, later transformed into a parish church, belonging to the estate of Almoster. The parish would arise from the will of the owner, Dona Sancha Peres, and at the end of the same century, her estate would be transformed into the site of the Cistercian monastery of Santa Maria de Almoster. Only in the period of the reforms of the liberal monarchy, with the extinction of religious orders, did the church lose its status as a mother, which has since been achieved. Today, both the church and its immediate territory have reached a critical phase of abandonment that requires reflection on what to do with this built heritage.