Church of São Vicente de Fora

Largo de São Vicente - 1100-572 Lisboa
Phone: (+351) 218.824.400

Church of São Vicente de Fora
Originally located outside the city's fortified walls, the church of Saint Vincent rises on the site used as the base of the French and German troops that laid siege to the Muslim rulers of Lisbon by order of king Afonso Henriques, in 1147.

Its building was entrusted by king Felipe II to the Italian architect Filippo Terzi in the 17th century.

Inside, the church bears the shape of the Cross, with a single vaulted nave; Lisbon's largest organ stands behind the main altar.

On the other side of a patio displaying orange-trees, flowers and fountains, the former monastery is decorated with 18th-century blue and white tiles depicting scenes of life in court and motifs illustrating the fables of La Fontaine.

On the cloister to the left, besides the House of Bragança Pantheon (with a 16th-century tabernacle at the entrance), visitors may still see the bell from one of the towers which fell during the great earthquake of 1755.

The church is open from 10 am to 7 pm; the cloisters may be visited from Tuesday to Friday, between 9 am and 6 pm, and on Sundays from 9 am to half past midday and between 3 and 5 pm.