St Sebastian (chapels)
Original title: São Sebastião (Capelas de)
Brief account of chapels dedicated to Saint Sebastian in Ponta do Sol, Porto Santo, Santa Cruz and São Jorge, with notes on their rebuilding in the eighteenth century.
The chapel of São Sebastião in the town (vila) of Ponta do Sol (‘point of the sun’), an old building, belonged to the town’s Municipal Council (Câmara Municipal). In 1734 it had been deconsecrated and was far gone in ruin, and it was entirely rebuilt at the expense of the same Council. It was inspected for the celebration of divine service on 20 November 1734.
On the island of Porto Santo (‘holy harbour’) there was a very old chapel dedicated to the martyr St Sebastian.
There was a chapel with the same dedication in the parish (freguesia) of Santa Cruz (‘Holy Cross’); neither the year of its construction nor the name of its founder is known.
There was a chapel of São Sebastião in the parish of São Jorge (‘St George’), whose year of construction we do not know. We do know, however, that it was rebuilt by the parish priest Francisco Marques de Mendonça in 1765 and blessed on 11 September of the same year. The small image of the saint, a remarkable masterpiece of sculpture, is in the parish church.
In this article
Time
Years mentioned · 02Place
Places mentioned · 05- Chapel of St Sebastian · Subject
Ponta do Sol
Chapels dedicated to Saint Sebastian in Ponta do Sol, Porto Santo, Santa Cruz and São Jorge. The Elucidário gives brief notes on them, including their rebuilding in the eighteenth century.
- Ponta do Sol
Town whose municipal council owned and rebuilt a chapel of São Sebastião.
Town and municipality of Ponta do Sol on Madeira, an early sugar-producing centre raised to a town in 1501. The Elucidário traces the changes in its municipal territory and its role as seat of a judicial district (comarca).
- Porto Santo
Island where a very old chapel of São Sebastião once stood.
An island of the archipelago, settled alongside Madeira and forming one of the three captaincies. It has always constituted a single parish, dedicated to Nossa Senhora da Piedade, whose church was repeatedly sacked. The Elucidário records the Moorish pirate raid of 1617, its own Misericórdia and a rainwater channel built on this drought-prone island.
- Santa Cruz
Parish that once had a chapel of São Sebastião of unknown date.
Santa Cruz is a parish and one of Madeira's oldest settlements, named after a cross Zarco had raised there at the discovery. The Elucidário covers its early ecclesiastical history, collegiate church, chapels, noble settlers and localities.
- São Jorge
Santana. Parish whose São Sebastião chapel was rebuilt in 1765; its statue of the saint is in the parish church.
North-coast parish that was an original parish of Santana municipality and gives its name to the northern archpriest district. It is known for plant-fossil and lignite deposits studied by Heer and Bunbury, and for a 17th-century landslide. The Elucidário also describes its islet, headland, quay and stream.
People
People mentioned · 01-
Parish priest of São Jorge who rebuilt the chapel of São Sebastião there in 1765.