Se Cathedral (Lisbon), Lisbon

Se Cathedral (Lisbon), Lisbon

The Lisbon Cathedral is one of the oldest churches in the city, built in 1147 on the site of an old mosque after Christians took over the city in the Second Crusade.

The Lisbon Cathedral is one of the oldest churches in the city, built in 1147 on the site of an old mosque after Christians took over the city in the Second Crusade. It has been the seat of the Bishopric of Lisbon since the city's first Bishop post-Reconquista Gilbert of Hastings took up the mantle. Originally built in Romanesque style, it has Neoclassical, Gothic and Baroque elements from subsequent renovations over the centuries.

The imposing Cathedral resembles a fortress, with its west façade featuring 2 bell towers flanking the portal, and crenellations along the roof. The archivolt windows at the top of the towers offer a glimpse of the bells. Laid out on the plan of a Roman Cross, the Cathedral has austere interiors with Gothic arches and a high barrel vaulting over the nave. To the left of the entrance is a marble baptismal font used to baptize Saint Anthony in 1195, framed by azulejos tiles and paintings illustrating episodes from the life of the saint. The main chapel and ambulatory were converted by Afonso IV into a Gothic style royal pantheon for him and his family, but only the ambulatory survived the 1755 earthquake. The ambulatory houses 3 notable Gothic tombs belonging to the 7th Lord of Ferreira de Aves Lopo Fernandes Pacheco and his wife Maria de Vilalobos in the Chapel of San Cosme and San Damiano, along with an unidentified royal princess in the Chapel of Santa Ana. Also of note are the funerary chapel of Bartolomeu Joanes, Chapel of Santa Maria Maior which has an iron grid with zoomorphic motifs, crib by the sculptor Joaquim Machado de Castro in the Chapel of Santo Ildefonso, and the Gothic choir.

Behind the Cathedral are the 14th century Portuguese Gothic cloisters that were built directly on top of the previous mosque. Excavations here have also led to the discovery of Roman and Visigothic remains. In one of the chapels here, Queen Eleanor of Viseu founded the Irmandade de Invocação a Nossa Senhora da Misericórdia de Lisboa (Brotherhood of Invocation to Our Lady of Mercy of Lisbon) which evolved into the Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa, a Catholic charitable institution.

The south tower houses the Treasury, showcasing ecclesiastical silver objects, relics, icons, religious art, vestments, statuary, jewelry, and illuminated manuscripts from the 15th - 16th centuries.