Page 70 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Portugal

0 "
Santo António da Sé
 W4 ⌂ Largo Santo
António da Sé 24 § 218
869 145 @ 737 v 12, 28
# 8am–7pm daily (to
8pm Sat & Sun); Museu
EXPERIENCE Alfama The popular little church of
Antoniano: 10am–6pm
Tue–Sun
Santo António allegedly
stands on the site of the
house in which St Antony
was born. The crypt, reached
via the tiled sacristy on the
left of the church, is all that
remains of the original church
destroyed by the earthquake Pope John Paul II in 1982. In The impressive
of 1755. Work began on the 1995 the church was given a Baroque façade of
new church in 1757 headed by face­lift for the saint’s eighth Santo António da Sé
Mateus Vicente, architect of centenary. It is traditional
the Basílica da Estrela (p100), for young couples to visit
and was partially funded by the church on their wedding
donations collected by local day and leave flowers for 11 "
children with the cry “a small St Antony, who is believed Sé
coin for St Antony”. Even to bring good luck to new  W4 ⌂ Largo da Sé § 218
today the floor of the tiny marriages. Next door, in the 866 752 @ 737 v 12, 28
chapel in the crypt is strewn building thought to be were # 9am–7pm daily (to 5pm
with coins and the walls are St Anthony was born, the Mon & Sun); treasury:
scrawled with devotional small Museu Antoniano 10am–5pm Mon–Sat
messages from worshippers. houses artifacts, relating
The church’s façade blends to the saint, along with gold­ In 1150, three years after
the undulating curves of the and silverware that used to Afonso Henriques recap tured
Baroque style with Neo­ decorate the church. The Lisbon from the Moors, he
Classical Ionic columns on most charming exhibit is a built a cathedral for the first
either side of the main portal. 17th­century tiled panel of bishop of Lisbon, the English
Inside, on the way down to the St Antony Crusader Gilbert of Hastings,
crypt, a modern azulejo panel preaching to on the site of the old mosque.
commemorates the visit of the fish. Sé is short for Sede Episcopal,
the seat (or see) of a bishop.
Devastated by three earth
SANTO ANTÓNIO (C 1195–1231) tremors in the 14th cen­
tury, as well as the earth­
The best-loved saint of the Lisboetas is
St Antony of Padua. Although born and quake of 1755, and
raised in Lisbon, he spent the last renovated over the
months of his life in Padua, Italy. centuries, the cathedral
St Antony joined the Franciscan you see today blends a
Order in 1220, impressed by some variety of archi tectural
crusading friars he had met at styles. The façade, with
Coimbra. The friar was a learned twin castellated bell
and pas sionate preacher, known for towers and a splendid rose
his devotion to the poor and his ability win dow, retains its solid
to convert heretics. Many statues and Romanesque aspect. The
paintings of St Antony depict him gloomy interior is simple and
carrying the Infant Jesus on a book, austere, and little remains of
while others show him preaching to the embellish ment lavished
fish, as St Francis preached to birds. In upon it by King João V in
1934, Pope Pius XI declared St Antony the first half of the 18th
a patron saint of Portugal. century. Beyond the re­
novated Roman esque nave,
the ambulatory has nine
70

070-071_EW_Portugal.indd 70 20/09/2018 10:39

EW Catalogue template v3.0 – 12th July 2018
Fonts: Aptifer Sans LT Pro, Posterama Text, Soho Gothic
Pro, Soho Pro, ITC Caslon 224