Igreja de São Domingos

The Church of São Domingos, in Lisbon, is a place where history can be seen in stones marked by fire. The first stone was laid in 1241, in the former Dominican convent, and the building passed through successive building campaigns. Classified as a National Monument since 1918, it saw its chancel reformed in 1748 by João Frederico Ludovice; this would be the area spared by the 1755 earthquake. The later reconstruction, associated with Manuel Caetano de Sousa, incorporated the portal and balcony that came from the Royal Chapel of the Ribeira Palace. The Baroque church, with a Latin-cross plan and a single nave, preserves an interior scale marked by monumental columns and the polychromy of its marbles. On 13 August 1959, a fire destroyed much of the interior. Reopened in 1994, it keeps those marks visible, turning loss into material memory.