From “Consecrated Land” (“Campo Santo”) to multicultural leisure space: two mendicant houses in Évora and Setúbal (Portugal)

Abstract

This study pretends to make a comparative diachronic analysis of the appropriation by the people of the surrounding areas of two mendicant religious houses, one masculine and other feminine, located in Evora (Convent of St. Francis) and Setubal (Monastery of Jesus), respectively. The understanding of the definition of the boundaries of the two fields appended to these two churches, either by progressive edifications and establishment of paths or successive use of the spaces, experienced over almost eight centuries in Evora and six centuries in Setubal, are essential to its full fruition. After being abandoned by the cenobite communities, these two religious houses (Évora─ 1834; Setubal─ 1888), which were at the genesis of the public spaces attached, suffered drastic changes: in their configuration, through annexation of parts of walls and demolition of buildings, in usage considering the very different social, religious and urban parameters inherent to their users at a single time. If Setubal was a metropolis whose population has always been connected to the sea in its various aspects and leisure industry, Évora had its lands as the economic engine, and more recently the international tourism associated with the built heritage. In both, multiculturalism has been a constant over the centuries and religion a remarkable power until the late 19th century. Currently, the areas are enjoyed in different ways by the corresponding populations; result not only of the interventions that have been performed, but also of the integration framework and the current urban networks of the respective cities.