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In the beginning, the stations were represented by a simple wooden cross and only later, in 1694 and 1695, were these rudimentary stations replaced by chapels, this time by order of D. João de Melo, Bishop Conde de Coimbra.



The steps were represented by paintings, later by crude figures of very poor quality and only at the end of the nineteenth century was thought to reanimate the Way of the Cross with perfect figures, having been commissioned to Rafael Bordalo Pinheiro.



The sculptural groups of the artist never came to be installed in Buçaco and the images that illustrate today the steps of the Via Sacra are from the year 1938 and by the sculptor Costa Mota (nephew). They are life-size figures made of baked clay that give the whole set of chapels representative of the Passion, great balance and artistic quality.



Passion of the Passion:



- Pass of the Praetorium: Here is considered the praetorium of Pilate where he sentenced to Death Jesus of Nazareth.



- Passage from the Cross to the Coasts: Here is considered the step where they put the cross behind Christ.



- Step of the First Fall: Here is considered the step where Christ fell for the first time with the cross on his back.



- Passage of the Encounter with the Virgin: Here is considered the step where Christ with the cross on the back met Mary.



- Step of Cyrene: Here is considered the step where they sent to Cyrenee to help carry the cross to Christ.



Veronica's Step: Here is the step where Veronica, leaving her house with a towel, wiped the sweat of the divine face to Christ and in it was portrayed the face of the Lord.



- Step of the Second Fall: Here it is considered where Christ fell for the second time with the cross the back.



- Step of the Daughters of Jerusalem: Here is considered the step where Christ with the Cross on his back turned to the daughters of Jerusalem.



- Step of the Third Fall: Here is considered the step where Christ with the cross on his back fell for the third time.



- Step in which they have stripped Christ of his garments: In this place it is considered how they stripped N.S. Jesus Christ of his robes.



- Step where they preached Jesus Christ on the Cross: In this place it is considered where they preached Jesus Christ on the cross, crushing cruelly hands and feet.



- Hermitage of Calvary: Here is considered the step where they embedded Christ on the cross and lifted it up on Mount Calvary, which represents this hermitage built in 1683.



- Step of the descent of the Cross: In this place the Lord is considered as descended from the arms of the cross and placed in the hands of his most Holy and sorrowful Mother.



- Step of the Sepulcher: In this place is considered the Sepulcher where they deposited the Most Holy body of Christ.



In Buçaco, Mealhada.



With an extension of about three kilometers the Via Sacra do Buçaco is composed of twenty steps, corresponding distinctly to the steps of the Prison and steps of the Passion and was opened by initiative of Manuel Saldanha, rector of the University of Coimbra in 1644.



Source: www.cm-mealhada.pt

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