DK Travel : Lisbon : Architecture

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Basílica da Estrela

This domed Lisbon landmark was built from 1779 to give thanks for the birth of a son and male heir to Dona Maria I. Sadly, the boy died of smallpox before the church was finished. Inside is the queen’s tomb, and a nativity scene with over 500 cork-and-terracotta figures; ask the sacristan to show you it.
Casa dos Bicos

Built as a private palace in 1523, this structure picked up on Italian style as well as including Manueline windows.
Conceição Velha Portal

The Manueline portal is the only remnant of the original 16th-century church, destroyed in the 1755 earthquake.
Ermida de São Jerónimo

This simple chapel from 1514 gives the Manueline a broader, more contemporary aesthetic.
Igreja da Graça

The Augustinian monastery of Graça dates from 1271, but was rebuilt after the 1755 earthquake. The church is home to the Senhor dos Passos, a figure of Christ carrying the cross, which is carried in a traditional procession during Lent.
Igreja de Santa Engrácia

One of Lisbon’s most uplifting churches is an unmistakable feature of the city’s eastern skyline. This Baroque beauty is most famous for having taken 284 years to build, but it also houses the cenotaphs to national heroes, hence the groups of schoolchildren clustered around.
Igreja de Santo António

Lisbon’s patron saint was allegedly born on this spot (as Fernando Bulhões) in the late 12th century. The present Baroque church replaced an earlier one lost to the 1755 earthquake. In June it is the scene of mass weddings, as St Anthony is said to bring luck to newly-weds.
Igreja de São Domingos

One of Lisbon’s oldest churches is one of its hardiest survivors. Built in 1242, it was damaged by earthquakes in 1531 and 1755, and ravaged by fire in 1959. The blackened interior helps you imagine the days when Inquisition processions would begin here, to end with charred corpses.
Igreja de São Roque

Built in the 16th century for the Jesuit order, this church is famous for its opulent interior, particularly the Chapel of St John the Baptist. Made in Rome using lapis lazuli, agate, alabaster, amethyst, precious marbles, gold and silver, it was blessed by the pope, taken apart and sent to Lisbon in three ships.
Igreja de São Vicente

In 1173, when St Vincent was proclaimed patron saint of Portugal, his relics were moved to the original church on this site. Philip II of Spain had the present Mannerist church built in the early 17th century. As if to prove a point about independence, in 1885 the refectory was turned into the pantheon of the Bragança royal family.