St. Julian's Church () is an 18th-century church located on the ''Praça de Bocage'' in

Setúbal Setúbal ( , , ; ), officially the City of Setúbal (), is a city and a municipality in Portugal. The population of the entire municipality in 2014 was 118,166, occupying an area of . The city itself had 89,303 inhabitants in 2001. It lies withi ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

. It is the main church (''matriz'') of the city classified as

National Monument A national monument is a monument constructed in order to commemorate something of importance to national heritage, such as a country's founding, independence, war, or the life and death of a historical figure. The term may also refer to a sp ...

in 1910.

History

The Church of São Julião was originally built in the second half of the 13th century. According to tradition, it was sponsored by the fishermen of Setúbal. It is known that, at the end of the 15th century, the church was connected to the Palace of Jorge de Lencastre, Master of the

Order of Santiago The Order of Santiago (; ) is a religious and military order founded in the 12th century. It owes its name to the patron saint of Spain, ''Santiago'' ( St. James the Greater). Its initial objective was to protect the pilgrims on the Way of S ...

and

Duke of Aveiro Duke of Aveiro () was a Portuguese title of nobility, granted in 1535 by King John III of Portugal to his 4th cousin, John of Lencastre, son of Infante George of Lencastre, a natural son of King John II of Portugal. John of Lencastre was ...

. The Duke used the Church of São Julião as his private chapel until around 1510. Between 1513 and 1520 the medieval church was rebuilt by order of

King Manuel I Manuel I (; 31 May 146913 December 1521), known as the Fortunate (), was King of Portugal from 1495 to 1521. A member of the House of Aviz, Manuel was Duke of Beja and Viseu prior to succeeding his cousin, John II of Portugal, as monarch. Manue ...

with the help of the local population and the Master of Santiago. The style was the

Manueline The Manueline (, ), occasionally known as Portuguese late Gothic, is the sumptuous, composite Portuguese architectural style originating in the 16th century, during the Portuguese Renaissance and Age of Discoveries. Manueline architecture inco ...

, the Portuguese variation of late Gothic, as attested by the main and lateral portals of the present church, the sole survivors of the Manueline building. In 1531 a strong earthquake struck Setúbal and the Church of São Julião was damaged; the building was considerably modified in

Mannerist Mannerism is a style in European art that emerged in the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520, spreading by about 1530 and lasting until about the end of the 16th century in Italy, when the Baroque style largely replaced it ...

style and reinaugurated in 1570. The original church was almost completely destroyed by the Great Earthquake of 1755 and was greatly rebuilt and redecorated in the last third of the 18th century following the late

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

style. From this stage date the general appearance of the

façade A façade or facade (; ) is generally the front part or exterior of a building. It is a loanword from the French language, French (), which means "frontage" or "face". In architecture, the façade of a building is often the most important asp ...

, the inner wooden roof, the painted

tile Tiles are usually thin, square or rectangular coverings manufactured from hard-wearing material such as ceramic, Rock (geology), stone, metal, baked clay, or even glass. They are generally fixed in place in an array to cover roofs, floors, wal ...

s, the main and lateral

altarpiece An altarpiece is a painting or sculpture, including relief, of religious subject matter made for placing at the back of or behind the altar of a Christian church. Though most commonly used for a single work of art such as a painting or sculpture, ...

s and the main chapel.

Art and architecture

The windows and upper

gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...

of the main façade are derived from the 18th century reconstruction of the church, but the simple main portal is still Manueline. More notable is the decorated lateral portal, a nice Manueline work with twisted columns imitating ropes, vegetal motifs and trilobed arches. The nave of the church is divided in three

aisle An aisle is a linear space for walking with rows of non-walking spaces on both sides. Aisles with seating on both sides can be seen in airplanes, in buildings such as churches, cathedrals, synagogues, meeting halls, parliaments, courtrooms, ...

s by arches built during the Mannerist repair works following the 1531 earthquake. After the 1755 earthquake the interior of the church was re-decorated in

style, with gilded columns decorated in ''talha dourada'' (a typical Portuguese technique to decorate woodwork with gold leaves) in the

choir A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

and a beautiful

. The painting of the main altarpiece is a work by ''Pedro Alexandrino''. The side walls are decorated with 18th-century blue-and-white ''

azulejo (, ; from the Arabic ) is a form of Portuguese and Spanish painted Tin-glazing, tin-glazed ceramic tilework. ''Azulejos'' are found on the interior and exterior of church (building), churches, palaces, ordinary houses, schools, and nowadays, r ...

s'' (ceramic tiles), depicting scenes from the life of

Julian and Basilissa :''See also Saint Julian'' Julian and Basilissa ( Greek: Ίουλιανός & Βασίλισσα, died ) were husband and wife, and are venerated as saints in the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church. They were Christian martyrs ...

References

*Rentes de Carvalho, J. - Portugal, um guia para amigos (in Dutch translation : Portugal); de Arbeiderspers, Amsterdam; 9th ed., August 1999; *The Rough Guide to Portugal; 11th ed. March 2005;
Portuguese Institute of Architectural Heritage

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Igreja de Sao Juliao (Setubal) Churches in Setúbal District Buildings and structures in Setúbal Tourist attractions in Setúbal District Roman Catholic churches completed in 1570 National monuments in Setúbal District 16th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Portugal