page_title: Hermitage of Nossa Senhora da Conceição (Tomar)
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Hermitage of Nossa Senhora da Conceição (Tomar) / History
caption_attribution_description: Português: Ermida de Nossa Senhora da Conceição de Tomar.
context_page_description: The Hermitage of Nossa Senhora da Conceição is a 16th-century hermitage located in the civil parish of São João Baptista, in the municipality of Tomar, designated as a National Monument in 1910.
context_section_description: According to Conceição Pires Coelho the construction started in or after 1535, during the priorship of Anthony of Padua, and concluded during the administration of Friar Basílio (1573). But one can only speculate about such matters as there was no contemporary document about the beginning of the construction. The building was one of the last constructions completed by architect João de Castilho. Initiated in 1551, with construction beginning in 1535, the temple was concluded in 1572-1573, after the death of the architect, under the direction of Diogo de Torralva. Conceived as funerary pantheon by King John III, the hermitage was innovative for the period. It was comparable to the temple of Rimini Malatestiano, designed by Leon Battista Alberti, with some motifs, including the use of windows and the "compressed interior design"
  In 1711, friar Agostinho de Santa Maria referenced the temple in correspondence, referring to it as a Marian sanctuary.
  An commemorative inscription was installed in 1848, following restorations completed in this church.
  In 1933-1934, the General-Directorate for National Monuments and Buildings (Portuguese: Direcção Geral dos Edifícios e Monumentos Nacionais) was charged with the consolidation and reinforcement of the central vault; reconstruction of the slats, frame and roof with glazed tiles; installation of exterior wall guards; the opening of exterior cracks and reinforcing them with water-resistant cement; reinforcement of the dome with hidden iron struts; and the reconstruction of the lateral and central doors.
  In 1946, a process was defined to designate the space as a zone of special protection (Portuguese: Zona Especial de Pretecção), which was published in the following year.
  Between 1965 and 1966, the support walls, churchyard spaces and staircase were defined and expanded, which included the reinforcement of the northern, southern and western limits with cap-stone and erecting an eastern fence. The project also involved the cleaning and repair of the staircase access to the main chapel and removal of rubble from the doorway and cracks in the walls, doors, window frames and spaces. These improvements lead to the installation of exterior illumination in 1967 to attract tourism. Reconstruction of the support wall, the roofing, construction of interior doorways and painting of the exterior doors were completed at the beginning of 1970. Similar cleaning and lateral door replacement occurred by the end of 1979.
  On 1 June 1992, the property was transferred into the authority of the Português do Património Arquitectónico (IPPAR) (forerunner of the Institute for the Management of Architectural and Archaeological Heritage), under decree 106F/92.
  In a public tender, dated 13 February 2001, the IGESPAR published a request for competitive bids to (Diário da República III Série, nº 37, public competition nº 306/IPPAR-L/E/2000) complete restoration and conservation projects in theConvento de Cristo, Ermida da Imaculada Conceição. These public works began in 2002, which included the study of exterior walls; full restoration and masonry repair; the cleaning and restoration of stone in interior and exterior; the repair and replacement of joints; the establishment of an electrostatic system to deter pigeons from landing; replacement and restoration of plaster; the consolidation of the decorative elements inside and outside; installation of interior lighting and signage; improvement of peripheral drainage systems; and the full restoration of the statue of Nossa Senhora da Conceição.
caption: The austere frontal aspect of the hermitage, showing the paved stone courtyard
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