Our Lady of Brotas (chapels)

In the locality (sítio) of Quinta das Freiras (‘nuns’ estate’), in the parish (freguesia) of Santo António, on the right bank of the stream of the same name, stands the chapel known as Nossa Senhora das Brotas. In trying to trace the origin of this name, which strikes us as so strange, we have been able, despite our best efforts, to arrive only at mere presumptions and conjectures, which may perhaps be very far from the truth. We first supposed that the name came not from the dedication or patron saint of the chapel but from the place where it had been built. Since there is a medicinal herb of that name, it is possible that the plant grew there and gave its name to the spot and later to the chapel. We then conjectured that, since the province of the Alentejo has a parish called Brotas, with a notable shrine dedicated to Nossa Senhora das Brotas, the chapel might perhaps have been given that name for reasons now unknown. Both hypotheses hold true in various parts of this island. It was common for the first colonists, who came from Portugal, to give the names of their home districts or favourite spots to many of the places where they settled here or held land by sesmaria (royal land grant to settlers on condition of cultivation).

In support of the first hypothesis, we must mention that in former times, and still at present, Our Lady of Brotas has been venerated under the dedication of Our Lady of Light (Nossa Senhora da Luz). This leads us to presume that the name refers to the place and not to the patron saint of the chapel.

This chapel was founded in 1678 by Manuel Martins Brandão, and the royal decree (alvará) licensing it to be opened for worship dates from July of that year. It was built on the quinta (country estate) that its founder owned there; of it there remain only the portico, almost all of the façade and part of the side walls. Tradition records that the waters of the stream, diverted from their natural course by the violence of the current, destroyed a considerable part of the churchyard, leaving the building in danger of imminent ruin.

It was the seat of an entail (morgado), which seems to us to have been founded by the said Manuel Martins Brandão. In 1736 the administrator of this entailed estate was the holder of the entail Pedro José de Faria Bettencourt.