Description of the attraction
The Church of Santa Lucia is located in the Santiago area of Lisbon, near Praça do Comrécio. The building of the church was built in the 12th century, during the reign of the first king of Portugal, Afonso Henrikesh, by the knights of the sovereign military order of Malta. The church was consecrated in honor of Saint Lucia of Syracuse, who is the patroness of the blind, as well as those who suffer from eye diseases.
The church was located in a strategic place of the city - in the eastern part of Lisbon, next to the city walls, therefore it also played the role of a fortified church. The current building dates back to the 18th century and was built on the site of a temple that was destroyed during the Lisbon earthquake and the subsequent tsunami that destroyed much of Lisbon. The church is built in the shape of a Latin cross and has one nave. Inside the church, on the left side of the transept, in the apse and nave, there are tombstones decorated with sculptures and inscriptions, there are ten of them in total. The interior of the church is made in the Baroque style.
The facade of the church is quite simple, but the decoration of the walls attracts attention. The southern wall of the church is adorned with magnificent panels made with azulesos tiles. One panel shows the Praça do Comercio square before the 1755 earthquake. And the second panel displays scenes of the conquest in 1147 by the Portuguese troops of the castle, in which the Moorish emir was located. The tile was made at the Viuva Lamego ceramics factory, famous in Portugal.
The Church of Santa Lucia is classified as a monument of national importance in Portugal.
