
At the square of the Republic, in front of the City Hall - the palace where
D. Manuel I lived before becoming King of Portugal, you can find a temple that
retraces to the time where infant D. Henrique was governor of Ceuta, having been
reconstructed in the Kingdom of D. Manuel. On the left side of the church raises
its voluminous tower constituted of a quadrangular base, followed for an
octagonal body and at the top one pyramidal spire.
This church is
made of three main naves but it must be pointed out its beautiful calcareous
rock pulpit. The cut of the altar-mor is from the ends of 17th century. Absorbed
in the floor, we can see some burial tablets, one of which is assumed to say
respect to Diogo Lopes, physical celebrity of D. Manuel I.
The tower of the church has a clock of the XVI century dcorated with faces and
sculls and was brought from the Castle of the Templars.
A series of
cinquecentist boards hang from the walls of the nave: 'The Beheading of S.
Joćo Baptista', 'Salomé Presenting the Head of S. Joćo Baptista', the
'Last Supper',
the 'Mass of S. Gregório',
'Abraćo and Melquisedech' and
'The Catch of the
Manna'.
These
great panels had been executed in the period of 1538-1539 by the famous painter
Gregorio Lopes, also author of one of the pictorial decorations of the Charola of the
Convent of Christ.
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© Paulo Rodrigues - 2006 |
Translation: Clįudia Costa / Paulo
Rodrigues
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