As is true with most old churches in Portugal, retaining walls, flights of stairs and large forecourts are designed around a building to help maintain it’s distance from its surroundings. This general strategy is at play in Santa Maria Church in Marco de Canaveses, where Alvaro Siza makes use of the sloping site and lifting the building on a 4m high plateau.

More on Alvaro Siza and this classic church after the break.