The organ of the Church of Misericórdia, in Torres Vedras, is the work of Bento Fontanes Maqueira and was built in 1773. The instrument was masterfully restored by the master organ builder Dinarte Machado in 2008.
Bento Fontanes belonged to an important family of organ builders from Galicia, who settled in Portugal during the 18th century, leaving a remarkable legacy of instruments.
Being an instrument with Iberian characteristics in terms of its composition and arrangement, its case, as well as the display or façade, align with the Italian aesthetic of the time, testifying to the strong Italian influence in Portugal during the 18th century.
With a short octave and composed of five full stops (8' stoped flute, 4' stoped flute), Composed 15th and 17th, Mixture of 5 voices) and two divided stops (8' Flute opened and the Cornet of three voices), it is an instrument equipped with flute stops of great depth and mixture stops with a strong sound presence. The instrument also features the "Tira-tutti" mechanism, widely used in Italian organs of the time, which consisted of quickly silencing the mixture stops through a lever.
As the only operational instrument in the city of Torres Vedras, it has played a key role in several initiatives around local organ development, such as the creation of an official organ class (currently with around 25 students), an organ concert festival in the city now in its seventh edition, discographic recordings, as well as regularly accompanying liturgical celebrations.

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Text by Daniel Oliveira

Stop List | Range C1 to F4 (short octave) | A=430Hz

Right Side stops

1. Flautado de 12 tapado (8')
2. Flautado de 12 aberto (8')
5.Cornetilha a IIIV ( 3 filas )

Full stops​

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3. Flautado de 6 tapado (4')

4. 15ª e 18ª a Iiv ( duas filas )

6. Mistura Vv ( cinco filas )

7. 8ª  Real (4') - registo da montra

Our Thanks

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Our great thanks to the Santa Casa da Misericórdia of Torres Vedras and to Daniel Oliveira for making this session possible.
Our thanks also to organ builder Dinarte Machado for the information provided about the instrument.