Aguas Ferreas Fountain - History

History

In July 1773, as a sequence of events resulting from the discovery of the iron waters in the civil parish of Fraião, the archbishop (D. Gaspar de Bragança) ordered the municipal council to proceed with the use of the waters. On July 30, of the same year, the municipal government decided to construct "for the people with better hygiene, comfort and seclusion to serve from the said water", contracted master mason Paulo Vidal (a resident of Adaúfe) to construct the fountain for 80$000 réis. The waters became famous for its health-related properties, including chronic inflammations; the medicinal waters of Fraião were referenced in the book Bens da Fábrica da Igreja de Lamacães in 1775.

As a sequence of interest manifested by professor José Joaquim da Silva Pereira Caldas from the Liceu Sá de Miranda in 1851, a report was provided to the municipal council on the superior quality of the fountain's waters. Councilmen José Valério Capela suggested the examination of the waters, budgeting the analysis of the water, as well as the construction of a public road from the Largo do Espadanido to the fountain. A commission of inquiry visited the fountain on 21 July, determining the necessity that the fountain should be cleaned and repaired.

In 1977, a visit by members of the municipal council to the location, resulting in the cleaning of the fountain. At the same time, a number of articles were published in the newspapers, by the parish priest of Fraião, Father António Oliveira Gomes, noting its abandon. But, even then, there was a lack of interest; by 1979 was covered in brushwood and clay, hiding the fountain.

A new article was written in 1991, noting the proposal for the urbanization in the valley of Lamaçães. On 11 May 1994, there was a request to classify the fountain as a monument, elaborated by the Dom Diogo de Sousa Museum. Ironically, on September 10, the structure was completely destroyed in course of the construction of hypermarket Carrefour. As a consequence of this architectural error, in May 1997 the fountain was reconstructed in current the location by the local government authority (including a commemorative plaque and signalling) under the orientation of Alberto Lima, technician from the University of Minho. Alberto Lima revealed that during their hydrological studies, it became impossible to identify the subterranean circuit of the waters, due to the inexistance of water and the fact that the spring was subterranean.