The Church and Monastery of São Vicente de Fora, meaning "Monastery of St. Vincent Outside the Walls", is a 17th-century church and monastery in the city of

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

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 one of the most important monasteries and

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 ...

buildings in the country. The monastery also contains the royal pantheon of the Braganza monarchs of

History and art

The original Monastery of São Vicente de Fora was founded around 1147 by the first Portuguese King, Afonso Henriques, for the Augustinian Order. Built in Romanesque style outside the city walls, it was one of the most important monastic foundations in medieval Portugal. It is dedicated to

Saint Vincent of Saragossa Vincent of Saragossa (also known as Vincent Martyr, Vincent of Huesca or Vincent the Deacon), the Protomartyr of Spain, was a deacon of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Zaragoza, Church of Saragossa. He is the patron saint of Lisbon, Algarve, a ...

, patron saint of Lisbon, whose relics were brought from the

Algarve The Algarve (, , ) is the southernmost NUTS statistical regions of Portugal, NUTS II region of continental Portugal. It has an area of with 467,495 permanent inhabitants and incorporates 16 municipalities (concelho, ''concelhos'' or ''município ...

to Lisbon in the 12th century. The present buildings are the result of a reconstruction ordered by

King Philip II of Spain King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

, who had become King of Portugal (as Philip I) after a succession crisis in 1580. The church of the monastery was built between 1582 and 1629, while other monastery buildings were finished only in the 18th century. The author of the design of the church is thought to be the Italian Jesuit Filippo Terzi and/or the Spaniard Juan de Herrera. The plans were followed and modified by ''Leonardo Turriano'', Baltazar Álvares, ''Pedro Nunes Tinoco'' and ''João Nunes Tinoco''. In 1755, an earthquake hit Lisbon, causing damage to the church which then needed reconstruction

The church of the Monastery has a majestic, austere façade that follows the later

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

style known as

Mannerism 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 ...

. The façade, attributed to Baltazar Álvares, has several niches with statues of saints and is flanked by two towers (a model that would become widespread in Portugal). The lower part of the façade has three arches that lead to the galilee (entrance hall). The

floorplan In architecture and building engineering, a floor plan is a technical drawing to Scale (ratio), scale, showing a view from above, of the relationships between rooms, spaces, traffic patterns, and other physical features at one level of a struct ...

of the church reveals a Latin cross building with a one-

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, ...

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

with lateral chapels. The church is covered by

barrel vault A barrel vault, also known as a tunnel vault, wagon vault or wagonhead vault, is an architectural element formed by the extrusion of a single curve (or pair of curves, in the case of a pointed barrel vault) along a given distance. The curves are ...

ing and has a huge

dome A dome () is an architectural element similar to the hollow upper half of a sphere. There is significant overlap with the term cupola, which may also refer to a dome or a structure on top of a dome. The precise definition of a dome has been a m ...

over the crossing. The general design of the church interior follows that of the prototypic church of The Gesù, in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

Lissabon-Sao Vicente de Fora-46-Azulejos-2011-gje

Within the monastery are ceramic tiles formed into panels that depict several different scenes. The ceramic tiles that were created are called

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 ...

. The tiles were created and painted for the monastery during two separate periods established by Santos Simoe

The first period was from 1700 until 1725 and was called the "great painting period," during King Joao V's reign. The second period was called "the great production period," which lasted from 1725 until 1755. The scenes range from life in the countryside, hunting, and even noble amusement. In total, there are over 150 different panels and scenes within the monastery
[2
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/nowiki> The beautiful main altarpiece is a Baroque work of the 18th century by one of the best Portuguese sculptors, Joaquim Machado de Castro. It has the shape of a baldachin and is decorated with a large number of statues. The church also boasts several fine altarpieces in the lateral chapels. The Monastery buildings are reached through a magnificent baroque portal, located beside the church façade. Inside, the entrance is decorated with blue-white, 18th century

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 that tell the history of the Monastery, including scenes of the

Siege of Lisbon The siege of Lisbon, from 1 July to 25 October 1147, was the military action against the Almoravid dynasty that brought the city of Lisbon under the definitive control of the new Christian power, the Kingdom of Portugal. The siege of Lisbon w ...

in 1147. The ceiling of the room has an illusionistic painting executed in 1710 by the Italian ''Vincenzo Baccarelli''. The

sacristy A sacristy, also known as a vestry or preparation room, is a room in Christianity, Christian churches for the keeping of vestments (such as the alb and chasuble) and other church furnishings, sacred vessels, and parish records. The sacristy is us ...

of the Monastery is exuberantly decorated with polychromed marble and painting. The

cloisters A cloister (from Latin , "enclosure") is a covered walk, open gallery, or open arcade running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle or garth. The attachment of a cloister to a cathedral or church, commonly against a warm southe ...

are also notable for the 18th century tiles that recount fables of La Fontaine, among other themes.

Braganza Pantheon

In 1834, after the Dissolution of the monasteries in Portugal, the monastery was transformed into a palace for the archbishops of Lisbon. Some decades later, King Ferdinand II transformed the monks' old

refectory A refectory (also frater, frater house, fratery) is a dining room, especially in monastery, monasteries, boarding schools and academic institutions. One of the places the term is most often used today is in graduate seminary, seminaries. The name ...

into a pantheon for the kings of the

House of Braganza The Most Serene House of Braganza (), also known as the Brigantine dynasty (''dinastia Brigantina''), is a dynasty of emperors, kings, princes, and dukes of Portuguese people, Portuguese origin which reigned in Europe and the Americas. The hous ...

. Their tombs were transferred from the main chapel to this room.

References