By: ELOISE WALTON
SILVES CATHEDRAL’S roof is at risk of imminent collapse, a report carried out by the Ministry of Culture has revealed (see Resident edition of July 13).
The national monument requires urgent and costly repairs but the government has so far refused to provide the funding, leading to local residents starting a petition and planning to raise the money themselves.
Priest Carlos Aquino has been working at the Cathedral since last September and is appalled by the lack of attention being given to the building.
Father Aquino told The Resident: “The problem with the building is the lack of attention it has been given since becoming a national monument in 1992, The roof is at risk of imminent collapse, it requires complete restoration of all the wooden beams, the stone work needs cleaning, the floor is rotten and the altars are damaged.”
All of these problems are in the Ministry of Culture’s report, with the estimated total cost of repair and renovation standing at 360,000 euros plus IVA.
Father Aquino has been told by the Instituto Português do Património Arquitectónico (IPPAR), the Portuguese Cultural and Arquitectural Institute, that the funds are not available.
Abandoned ruin
Meanwhile the main section of the Cathedral has been boarded off and emptied of all furniture.
“The only space left to worship is at the back of the church but sadly the only way in is inaccessible to the disabled,” said Father Aquino, adding: “The monument receives around 400,000 visitors each year, all hoping to see a wonderful historical building and now they are faced with this abandoned ruin.”
No one is allowed to carry out any form of restoration, or even paint the building, without permission from IPPAR.
Father Aquino said that the previous priest began restoring the altars himself but when officials found out, he was stopped from carrying out the works.
Silves Cathedral applied to be considered for the Seven Wonders of the World project but was disqualified due to its poor state of repair. Father Aquino has started a petition which has more than 2,500 signatures that will be given to the Ministry of Culture. The church is now planning events later in the year to begin the fund raising project before the roof collapses. “The longer we wait, the more the repairs will cost” said Father Aquino. “I don’t know what will happen to the Cathedral if the roof collapses.”
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