The Cabido da Sé of Faro assumed the intention of starting this week the restoration work of various elements of the cathedral, from the walls to the ceilings, windows, altars and images, projecting a pantheon in the cloister.
«We can see that both the ceiling lining of the Cathedral – including the woodwork and its painting – and the walls are in a dilapidated state. Therefore, it was necessary to make an intervention, including trying to see if there will be a previous color that makes it lighter and lighter», said the dean of the Cabido (the oldest canon of the cathedral), to the diocesan newspaper 'Folha do Domingo'.
Canon Mário de Sousa added that the intervention will also see the «possibility of enriching» the frames that decorate this ceiling, «according to what is under the current paint».
The paintings on the coffered ceilings of the cradle vault of the chancel of the Sé do Algarve are also «very degraded and very undone» and the skylight windows «already have the woodwork completely damaged».
This work will be carried out «in dialogue» with the Regional Directorate of Culture of the Algarve [DRCAlg], «which is monitoring» the project, and, after this first phase of the intervention in the church of Nossa Senhora da Assunção, the altarpiece will be restored. of the high altar, including its three images – the patron saint, Saint Peter and Saint Paul – «which are very blackened by time and smoke».
According to canon Mário de Sousa, they will also restore the canvas representing the coronation of Our Lady, «which tops the altarpiece», the canvases of the apostolate stall, and the stall itself.
“The roof will also be waterproofed, because you can see the passage of moisture, especially in the chancel, which will later degrade the gold paintings,” he added.
The dean explained that the works, with a budget of almost half a million euros, will be “funded entirely by the Cabido”, have an estimated period of six months and include the recovery of the main and side facades of the Episcopal Palace.
The intervention in the Cathedral will be carried out in phases, one nave at a time, leaving the other two free for pastoral initiatives, celebrations, and receiving visits.
In the context of «appreciation of the cathedral», the chapter hall, next to the chapel of the Blessed Sacrament, has also been intervened and, in the future, «it will be another visitable space».
Another project by the Cabido da Sé de Faro it is the construction of a pantheon for the bishops of the Algarve, in the cloister of the cathedral – in the chapel of bones or in the chapel of the Archangel São Miguel.
«At this moment, there is a crypt where the body of D. Marcelino [Franco, bishop of the Algarve between 1920 and 1955] is and also the urns with the mortal remains of some other bishops, but which is not able to preserve with dignity the bodies because it is very humid, it is not even visitable», contextualized the dean of the Cathedral.
Outside the cathedral, a ramp has already been built for people with reduced mobility, with the access to the cloister still missing from the railing, a project and work by the Municipality of Faro.
The newspaper 'Folha do Domingo' recalls that the last major intervention in the Cathedral of Faro, classified as a Property of Public Interest, was held between October 1999 and February 2, 2003, the day of reopening after almost three and a half years closed for worship and visits.
Photos: Samuel Mendonca | Sunday sheet
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