Description of the attraction
The Church of Mercy in Aveiro is located in the same square as the city hall. Initially, the Italian architect Filippo Terzio was responsible for the project of the church. Construction began under his leadership in 1585. It is worth noting that this architect also built many other buildings in Portugal, among which were not only churches, but also forts. The church took a very long time to build. The construction was completed in 1653 by another architect, the Portuguese Manuel Azena.
The temple became famous for its grandiose portal and facade, decorated with azulezush tiles of the 19th century. The facade of the temple is decorated with a rather impressive classical portal made of limestone. Later, Baroque elements were added to the decoration of the portal. The entrance to the church is decorated with four columns of the Corinthian order. In the lower part, between the columns, niches are made, in which there are stone statues. In the upper part, also between the columns in the niches, there used to be statues, but then windows were made instead. In addition, the facade of the building is decorated with a stone statue of Our Lady of Mercy. At the very top of the façade is the royal shield and the armillary sphere (an ancient astronomical device).
The interior of the church has a long, high nave and is very luxuriously decorated. The walls are covered with azulezos tiles with patterned ornamentation from the 16th century. In the altar part of the temple, the vaulted ceiling attracts attention. It is worth noting that the ceiling is made of stone brought from the province of Ansan and is used in the construction of monuments in this part of Portugal.
