The Old Church Palace ("Palácio da Igreja Velha"), located in Vermoim, has just been declared Property of Municipal Interest. The classification, approved today in Council Meeting by the Municipal Executive, includes the Old Church Palace, the Chapel of S. Francisco de Assis and the Cross of the Old Church Palace, and the surrounding area was fixed as a Special Protection Zone.
"This is the valorisation of a historical heritage, of great architectural relevance" highlights the Mayor, Mário Passos. "This classification is a way to ensure its preservation" says the mayor.
The Old Church Palace, dated from 1881, is protected by the Map II - Built and Archaeological Heritage and in Annex I of the regulation of the Municipal Master Plan, currently in force, being an example of XIX century turn-key Brazilian architecture, with unique characteristics and monumental scale in the municipality of Vila Nova de Famalicão.
It was subject to requalification works between 2012 and 2015, by the current owner, the real estate company Vetorpredileto (Telhabel), which allowed maintaining its architectural quality and good state of conservation. Thanks to this intervention, the project, authored by the Visioarq architecture office, received the International Architecture Award "Architizer A+ awards" in 2017, and, in 2018, the Januário Godinho Rehabilitation Award.
It should be noted that, besides Old Church Palace, there are two other buildings in the famalicense county, classified as of municipal interest, among them, Solar de Vila Boa, in the parish of Joane, classified in 1977, and the Chapel of São Gonçalo, in the parish of Cavalões, classified in 1978.