Aldeias Históricas de Portugal

Villages

Baptismal Fonts

Idanha-a-Velha

Idanha-a-Velha

There are two baptismal fonts identified in old Egitanea, the name by which the Visigoth city was known. One of them is located next to the North façade of the Cathedral. The date of its construction is unknown, but materials from the Roman imperial city were reused for its construction. It was abandoned during the late 4th century, early 5th century. It is a rectangular pool, with access steps on the shorter sides, covered with opus signinum (waterproofing mortar) with a marble bottom. The second baptismal font was built at the beginning of the 5th century, also reusing marble slabs from the imperial city. It has a cruciform shape and has preserved, until recently, traces of its original painting. Both are liturgically close and functionally identical: a small pool with steps, into which the catechumens entered, on the west side, receiving the triple infusion – symbolising the purification rite of immersion – and exiting on the opposite side. In the southern baptismal font, the priests would occupy the lobed spaces on the sides. The archaeological investigation has not yet contextualised these two baptismal fonts, which are the oldest of their kind in our region, being widely thought that they were part of structures built prior to the Cathedral (Santa Maria Church).