Túlio Espanca said that the Misericórdia Church of Alcaçovas started in 1551, the year in which, on the 13th of June, a donation was made for that purpose of the houses owned by Margarida Rodrigues, located in the Direita street. The author, however, doesn’t mention the document he based himself upon for this statement and there is no knowledge about such a document.. Also, that date may not be the same as the founding of the institution.  In fact, there is in the Church of the Misericórdia an inscriptin on stone with the following statement: “This Santa Casa da Misericórdia was built in 1551, on the 10th of September”. Father Joaquim Pedro de Alcântara also mentions this date, thus considering the possibilty that the said date corresponds to the foundation date. However, he also says that “another information says that the church was closed” on that date. But there is no reference to the his source of information. In fact, it wouldn’t be possible to build the church in such a short time (June to September), reason why, after the donation of the building in June, the works in the church must have started in early September. And the Misericórdia would hve been founded in that same year or a little time before. In the archives of the o Arquivo of the Santa Casa da Misericórdia, the organization and inventory ended in 20117, no document referring to the Foundation of the the House and the most anciente date registedgoes back to 1575.

Around the year of 1751the brotherhood ia said to have had three chaplains, meaning that theere were many liturgic services, maybe due to the huge number of donations, the donors of whoich, would request masses for the souls of famiky and friends.

The Misericórdia also owned a hospital that functioned first on the opposite side of the street of the church, and then a new and than side by side with the church Ghis one was built in 1864.. Este último contruído em 1864.

Around 1882/1883 the pharmacy was built as well as the residence of the pharmaceutical employee and a room for the sessions of the administrative members and archive and another as a basement. strorage compartment.

Amongst his most earlier ombudsmen were the Lords of Alcáçovas as Sir Jorge Henriques who held the position in 1684.

REFERENCES:
ALCÂNTARA, Joaquim Pedro de, Breves Memórias da Villa das Alcáçovas, Évora, Minerva Eborense, 1890.
ESPANCA, Túlio, Inventário Artístico de Portugal. Distrito de Évora. Concelhos de Alandroal, Borba, Mourão, Portel, Redondo, Reguengos de Monsaraz, Viana do Alentejo e Vila Viçosa, Lisboa, Academia Nacional de Belas Artes, Tomo IX, Vol. 1, 1978.