The small Chapel of Montélitos (Capela dos Montélitos) owes its existence to S. Frutuoso, Bishop of Dume and Braga during the Visigoth period, who chose to be buried here, in the 60 decades of the VII century. Around it existed a monastic set way bigger, the religious center of the region at that time, which disappeared, probably in the beginning of the XVI century, when the Franciscans started their monastery rebuilding works.
The centralized plan chapel, of four equal apses articulated around a square cruise, is the only element in the whole monastic set, from the High Middle Ages, which stayed until today.
In the X century, after the reconquer and the beginning of the repopulation, the chapel was objected to a reconstruction, that gave it the interior aspect it now has. The apses, which were of a square intern plan, now have a semi-circular shape, and at each of the entrances, a horseshoe arch with a triple archway was built.
This might be a reading of the remaining set, but the truth is that there are no certainties regarding its constituting parts, especially the ascendance of such small apses gifted with false ambulatories (because on the floor there are still evidence of column bases). The quality of its architectural program points to a single construction project, made and realized in a single moment.
In a first phase, and under the order of João de Moura Coutinho, the monument suffered an intervention having as a model the late-old constructions of Ravena. Although the posterior attempts, the restoration was never finished, and the work was unfinished at the coverage and some wall’s filling level, fact that is still visible to those visiting the chapel.
