The Saint Peter's Basilica () is a Catholic

basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica (Greek Basiliké) was a large public building with multiple functions that was typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek Eas ...

built in

neoclassical style Neoclassicism, also spelled Neo-classicism, emerged as a Western cultural movement in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiquity. Neoclassici ...

at the

Toural Square The Toural Square (), commonly referred as just Toural, is the most important square and place of gathering on the Portuguese city of Guimarães. It began in the 17th century as a place to sell bulls (Touro in Portuguese), oxen and other goods ...

, inserted in the

freguesia (), usually translated as "parish" or "civil parish", is the third-level administrative subdivision of Portugal, as defined by the 1976 Constitution. It is also the designation for local government jurisdictions in the former Portuguese over ...

of Oliveira, São Paio e São Sebastião, part of

Guimarães Guimarães () is a city and municipality located in northern Portugal, in the district of Braga. Its historic town centre has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2001, in recognition for being an "exceptionally well-preserved ...

, in northwest

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 ...

. Its origin dates back to the beginning of the 17th century, although the work only began in 1737. By 1750 the chapel was blessed. The formal completion of the work was between 1883 and 1884, although the façade had not been completed, and the second bell tower was never actually built. The church was desecrated during the

Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

and was used as a stable. It received the title of minor basilica in 1751 from

Pope Benedict XIV Pope Benedict XIV (; ; 31 March 1675 – 3 May 1758), born Prospero Lorenzo Lambertini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 17 August 1740 to his death in May 1758. Pope Benedict X (1058–1059) is now con ...

. The basilica follows a

, very austere and simple. On 1 December 1942, after the " Missa das Almas", a few hundred poor people gathered in the top floor of the basilica to receive free soup and bread, but the weight of the same was too much, leading to the collapse of the floor and the death of 10 people and the injuring of many more.

References

Basilica churches in Portugal Roman Catholic churches completed in 1884 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Portugal {{Portugal-RC-church-stub

See also

References