Church of Nossa Senhora da Conceição (Santa Cruz das Flores)

The construction of the church began in 1781, on the site of a primitive temple in an area that was once the centre of the original town, under the direction of its first vicar, the Ouvidor Father Manuel Lourenço Vieira.[1]

It was only 1859 that the church was consecrated; the delay in its construction is reflected in the facade which consists of two distinct styles, the last phase of poorer nature.[1]

On 5 November 1998, a resolution by the President of the regional government (220/1998, JORAA, Série 1, 45) supported the classification of the property as a landmark of municipal importance. On 9 September 2004, it was reclassified under terms of Article 94 (Decree 107/2001) as a Imóvel de Interesse Público (Property of Public Interest).[1]

The imposing/bulky pedestals and pillars of the front facade

The church is situated to the left of the Praceta Roberto de Mesquita, incorporated into a walled garden with an octagonal reflecting pool.[1][2] The large church (of great dimensions by Azorean standards) is situated in an elevated courtyard relation to the road, accessible by five large paved stairs with Portuguese pavement stone in a semi-circular form that amplifies the courtyard.[2] The open space to the left of the church is defined by a lateral facade, tower and sacristy, as well as being paved in Portuguese pavement between stonework.[2] The areas to the right facade are covered in grass.[2] The building assumes an important position in Santa Cruz, being visible from most places in the town.[2] It includes a principal body, a narrower chancel, two bell towers and annex structures on either side of the presbytery forming "L"-shaped extensions of the presbytery and nave.[2] The entire building is constructed in masonry and stonework, plastered and painted in white, except for the soclos, cornerstone, cornices, pilasters, columns, frames, pinnacles and decorative elements, that include interior arches, pillars, corbels and stonework.[2]

The principal facade is divided into three levels by cornices and three vertical sections by pilasters.[2] On the ground floor, each section has a doorway, that corresponds to the three naves of the church. Framing the doorways are double lintels and cornices, with the doors flanked by large columns on pronounced pedestals.[2] The capitals of the columns integrate into the cornice of the door, with the lateral columns topped by Ionic columns, while the central portico is topped by Corinthian columns.[2] On the first lintel of each door is a rosette in relief, while above each capital is a bulky element that unites the cornice from the other levels.[2] Over the cornice are vertical pinnacles above the columns.[2]

The intermediary level is occupied a guillotine window per section, aligned to the doorway on the ground floor (but narrower).[2] Each window is framed in a similar form of the doors, but with skirt between the pedestals and its columns. In each of the pedestals are inscriptions in Latin that read (from left to right):[1][2]

CONCEPTIONEM, BEATÆ, VIRGINIS, MARIÆ, CUMGAUDIO and RECOLAMUS

Conception, Blessed, Virgin, Mary

Above the capitals of the columns are windows, which are more elaborated then the doors, bulky elements that connect the second cornice, to the upper (similar to the ones anterior).[2]

The third level of the facade is divided into sections by the pilasters that rise from the preceding base into the curvilinear frontispiece topped by iron cross on a plinth.[2] The pilaster divisions terminate in pinnacles just below the edge of the frontispiece.[2] The central section has polylobal oculus framed by square stonework and cornice, from which rises a pilaster terminating at the central apex of the frontispiece in a diamond.[2] Complementing the central oculus are lateral double-framed diamond-shaped oculi, surmounted by small niche in relief.[2] Above each of the oculi is a linear cornice, supporting a segment of pilaster that terminates in another pinnacle that erupts from the frontispiece.[2]

The bell towers are implanted on either side of the facade, divided into three sections by the extension of the cornices.[2] The ground floor section includes a guillotine window with simple stonework frame, which is repeated in the second section.[2] The framed window valance is decorated with a small central rosetta, although the second-floor window also includes a larger shell-like element of larger dimensions. Over the sill is a cornice, supported by two half-scrolls that define the skirt, with an incomplete cartouche in their centre.[2] Above this section is the belfry, with an archway on each of the three principal faces, defined by an extension of the stonework that begins at the base.[2] The towers are topped by a cornice and surmounted by a bulbous octagonal cupola over a drum, and surmounted by pinnacle.[2]

The doors of the lateral facades are framed by a double lintel and cornice and flanked by pilasters over high, framed pedestals.[2] A second cornice is situated above these doors, separated from the first by small extensions of the pilasters, and decorated by a pinnacle on either extreme, where a window is placed.[2]