Casa de Mesquitela

Its construction was started and/or completed between the end of the 16th century or beginning of the 17th century, although some suggest the 1500s.[1][2]

By 1678, the house as associated with a Domingos do Amaral.[1]

Alterations were made to the house with the inclusion of a formal chapel in 1722 (from an inscription on the door of the chapel).[1] Sometime during the 18th century it became a headquarters for forces during the third Napoleonic invasion of Portugal.[1]

Similarly, during the Liberal Wars Brigadier Manuel Cardoso de Faria Pinto, used this reside (where lived at that time) as base during the battles between absolutists and liberals.[1]

On 2 January 1997, from a dispatch of the Ministry of Culture (Portuguese: Ministro da Cultura), the residence was classified as a Property of Public Interest (Portuguese: Imóvel de Interesse Público): since 1988, it had already been adapted as a tourist residence.[1]

The residence is into the rural countryside of Mangualde, encircled by walls that divide several patios (with the exception of the western and eastern flanks).[1]

Its horizontal plan is composed of a single floor, divided into various spaces and covered in tile roofing.[1][2] Entrance into the building is made by large portico surmounted with a coat-of-arms framed in sectioned gables, over cornice.[1][2] The coat-of-arms was sculpted in the 18th century, and belongs to the descendants of the Cardosos, Farias, Amarais and Coutos hereditary lines.[2] The doorway gives access to the main courtyard and Couto de Homiziados (a frontier space that provided sanctuary from justice).[1][3] This principal facade is surrounded by porch supported by cylindrical columns with rectangular base.[1]

Doors around the house follow the lintel line, while the sash windows have granite frames, which are repeated all around the property.[1] The rear facade, also with access to the interior, is preceded by five granite steps.

A chapel abuts the lateral facade of the residence, built in 1722 and dedicated to Santo António, with its main entrance topped by a niche with the image of the patron.[1][2] To the right of this portico was originally a pulpit in rock, since removed.[2]

The parcel's surrounding walls have several openings to access the patios.

Notes

Sources

• Azevedo, Carlos de (1969), Solares Portugueses: Introdução ao estudo da Casa Nobre (in Portuguese), Lisbon, Portugal: Livros Horizonte
• Binney, Marcus (1987), Casas Nobres de Portugal, Int. de Manuel Pedro Rio de Carvalho (in Portuguese), Lisbon, Portugal: Difel
• "Mesquitela", Enciclopédia Luso-Brasileira (in Portuguese), vol. 13, Lisbon, Portugal: Verbo
• Frazão, A.C. Amaral (1981), Domingos Barreira (ed.), Novo Dicionário Corográfico de Portugal (in Portuguese), Porto, Portugal{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• "Mesquitela", Grande Enciclopédia Portuguesa e Brasileira (in Portuguese), vol. 17, Lisbon, Portugal; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: Ed. Enciclopédia Ldª
• Leal, Pinho (1875), "Mesquitela", Portugal Antigo e Moderno, Dicionário Corográfico... (in Portuguese), vol. 5, Lisbon, Portugal: Liv. Ed. de Mattos Moreira e Cª
• Ventura, Margarida Garcez (1990), "Os Coutos de Homiziados nas Fronteiras com o Direito de Asilo", Revista da Faculdade de Letras (PDF) (in Portuguese), Porto, Portugal: University of Porto, pp. 601–625