Vasco da Gama´s Painted Houses

Largo Marquês de Vila Flor

Vasco da Gama´s Painted Houses
It is thought the explorer who discovered the sea route to India lived in one of these houses, but no-one is sure in which, nor are there any certainties about the number of houses which formed the old Inquisition Court.

Anyhow, the buildings which gave name to the Painted Houses Street, now Vasco da Gama Street, deserve to be visited.

The small cloister is surrounded by walls with paintings; around the pavement, a Renaissance frieze nearly 1.5 metres tall forms a skirting-board surmounted by a parapet, also painted and ressembling carved stone; above, the paintings surprise the visitor with their fantasy scenes.

The successive remodelling works are visible and it is a pity the paintings have been so poorly preserved.

It is difficult to visit the chapel inside, but it also exhibits paintings on the walls and an altarpiece with a false retable.