Page 333 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Portugal

set. Due east is the crowded Lourenço. Commissioned by refusing to give up his faith.
Praia da Marina. The nearby local inhabitants in grati tude The story culminates in his
Roman ruins of Cerro da Vila, to St Laurence, who answered martyrdom. In the last panel
dating from the 1st century their desperate prayers for on the right, in which the saint
AD, incude a bath complex water, the church’s interior is is placed on a gridiron to be
and a house with mosaics a master piece of decoration burned, an angel comforts
depicting fish. in azulejo panels. him. The nave vault depicts
The copious blue-and-white the Coro nation of St Laurence,
Cerro da Vila tiles were probably designed and the cupola has decorative,
" ⌂ Avenida Cerro da Vila by master craftsmen in Lisbon trompe-l’oeil effects of excep-
§ 289 312 153 # May–Oct: and shipped down. They cover tional quality. The last tiles
10am–1pm, 4–9pm Tue–Sun; the cupola, the walls of the were put in place in 1730. The
Nov–Apr: 9:30am–12:30pm, chancel, nave and nave vault, altarpiece, dating from around
2–6pm Tue–Sun to stunning effect. The wall 1735, was the work of Manuel
panels depict episodes from Martins and was gilded by
the life of St Laurence; on one leading local painters.
r side of the altar the saint is
shown healing two blind men,
Almancil and on the other, giving money
to the poor. The nave arches
! E7 £ @ n Rua de Vale; show the saint conversing
289 400 860
with Pope Sixtus II;
East of the undistinguished arguing for his
town of Almancil lies one of Christian belief with
the Algarve’s gems, the 18th- the Roman Emperor
century Igreja Matriz de São Valerian; and

Azulejos on the interior
of Igreja Matriz de São
Lourenço (inset) in Almancil
333

332-333_EW_Portugal.indd 333 20/09/2018 17:01