Igreja de Santos-o-Velho

The Church of Santos-o-Velho, in Lisbon, holds a very ancient religious memory, associated with the Holy Martyrs Veríssimo, Máxima and Júlia. Municipal sources refer to remains on the site of a presumed Late Roman temple from the 4th century; in 1147, after the conquest of the city, King Afonso Henriques ordered a new church to be built there. The parish was established in 1566 by Cardinal Henrique, and the church was built during the reign of King Sebastião. Its present appearance results mainly from reconstructions carried out in the 17th and 19th centuries. The façade, flanked by two bell towers, opens through a portal with a relief of the martyrs and leads to a galilee. Inside the single nave, the false wooden barrel vault stands out, decorated with 72 painted and gilded panels on the Eucharist. Side chapels, a choir resting on corbels and a stucco chancel complete a space where devotion, memory and art overlap in discreet layers.