Seminário de Santa Teresinha
THE ABANDONED MONASTERY IN PORTUGAL
‘Seminário de Santa Teresinha’ also named ‘Seminário do Burgo’ was an abandoned seminary in the municipality of Felgueiras. The institute was housed in an old Portuguese monastery. The site burned down in 2020.
This abandoned building was a seminary or theological college. A seminary is an educational institution for educating students in theology, generally to prepare them for priesthood. The school bought this building in 1928. At the time, it was an old and abandoned monastery.
The 9-shaped building had long corridors, named after saints. There are large wooden staircases and an imposing neo-Manueline chapel. Neo-Manueline is a revival style of architecture which evolved from the 16th century Manueline late Gothic architecture of Portugal.
The seminary was abandoned in 1967, but it was later used as a home for the elderly until 1984. In 1988, it was decommissioned. The building was eventually sold to a private investor. Plans to rebuilt it as a hotel didn’t make it. During my visit it was in a very bad shape, even parts of the buildings did collapse. These photos of ‘Seminário de Santa Teresinha’ were taken in 2015. The buildings burned down in 2020 in a huge fire. It was the end of one of the icons of Vale de Pombeiro and Ribavizela.
