Location: Largo da Se
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Bus: 37
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The Sé de Lisboa, or Cathedral of Santa Maria Maior, is located in the city of the same name, in Portugal. It is the seat of the Patriarchate of Lisbon and the parish of Sé. Its construction began in the second half of the twelfth century, after the conquest of the city from the Moors by D. Afonso Henriques, and is presented today as a mixture of architectural styles. It has been classified as a National Monument since 1910.
Lisbon has been the seat of a bishopric since at least
the fourth century, at the end of antiquity. It is also known of the
existence of several bishops of the city during the Visigothic period,
between the fifth and seventh centuries.at the beginning of the eighth
century, Lisbon was conquered by the Moors, but the Christian population
remained in the city and its surroundings. In 1147, when D. Afonso
Henriques took the city from the Moors, Lisbon had a Mozarabic Bishop
(as Christians living under Muslim rule were called). After the
reconquest of the city by the Portuguese King and the Knights taking
part in the Second Crusade, an English crusader, Gilbert of Hastings,
was made Bishop. Then began the construction of the cathedral,
apparently in place of the Old Mosque of Lisbon. At the same time,
Afonso Henriques brought from the Algarve the relics of Saint Vincent of
Zaragoza and deposited them in the Cathedral.
The
Romanesque-style building of the Cathedral began to be erected from 1147
and was finished in the first decades of the thirteenth century.the
design, of three naves with triforium, projecting transept and headboard
with three chapels, is very similar to that of the Cathedral of Coimbra
and follows Norman models. Its first architect was Mestre Roberto,
probably of Norman origin, who worked on the construction of the
Cathedral of Coimbra, lisbon and the Monastery of Santa Cruz de Coimbra.
Between the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries the
cloister was built in Gothic style, one of the main architectural works
of the reign of D. Dinis. His successor, D. Afonso IV, modified the rear
of the Romanesque church, ordering the construction of a headboard with
ambulatory in Gothic style to be used as a family pantheon. The King's
will is expressed in his will, dated 1345, in which he says that "(...)
However D. Affonso IV. pella grace of God King of Portugal, and of the
Algarve, the honor, and praise of God, and of the glorious Virgin Santa
Maria sa Madre, and of the Martre S. Vicente was built by my own hands
in the Cathedral Church of Lisbon, the body of the Blessed S. Vicente
jás, the principal of the ditta Igreja with other capellas darredor,
which I heard hey by my grave; and wanting to add more in this work for
God to be praised, and to give me El galardom our holy glory of Paraizo.
(...)"
Despite the medieval Prohibition of laymen being buried in
the main chapel, an exception was made for D. Afonso IV for his heroic
performance in the Battle of Salado (1340). The new headboard began to
be built in the first half of the fourteenth century, but the works only
ended in the early fifteenth century, during the reign of D. João I,
when the tombs of D. Afonso IV and his wife, D. Beatriz, were moved to
the main chapel. The creation of an ambulatory with a series of chapels
at the head was a modernizing work of the see that made it more apt to
receive pilgrims who came to see the relics of St. Vincent. In the
fourteenth century, Lisbon and the Cathedral were affected by several
earthquakes. A strong earthquake at the beginning of the fifteenth
century caused modifications to the works, at that time it is possible
that the arches that connected the corridor of the ambulatory to the
chancel were closed.
Over the centuries the Cathedral was
decorated with several monuments and altars, most of which have been
lost or are now scattered in other buildings. The main chapel housed the
tomb with the relics of São Vicente, which was decorated around 1470
with a large painted altarpiece - the so - called panels of São Vicente
de Fora-attributed to Nuno Gonçalves, royal painter of D. Afonso V. the
panels, a masterpiece of Portuguese painting of the fifteenth century,
were removed in 1614 and are today, along with other paintings of the
Cathedral associated with São Vicente, in the National Museum of Ancient
Art.
In 1498, Queen D. Leonor de Avis founded the Brotherhood of
invocation to Our Lady Of Mercy in the chapel of Pedra Solta in the
cloister of the Cathedral. The Brotherhood eventually gave rise to the
Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa, a Catholic charitable institution
that spread to other cities of the Kingdom and the colonies.
In the middle of the seventeenth century a Sacristy
was built in Mannerist style next to the south facade of the See. In the
eighteenth century the Gothic Chancel was altered in Baroque form. The
Great Earthquake of 1755 affected the See, destroying the chapel of the
Blessed Sacrament, the south tower and the decoration of the chancel,
including the royal tombs, and the cloister. The lantern tower partially
collapsed and destroyed part of the stone vault of the nave, which was
rebuilt in wood.
In the following decades the See underwent
renovations and a redecoration campaign. Thus, between 1761 and 1785 The
Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament was rebuilt. Between 1769 and 1771,
Reinaldo dos Santos coordinated major works of restoration of the south
tower of the facade, construction of the wooden roof of the nave and
remodeling of the chancel, including the painting of the vault and
stucco decoration by Félix da Costa. The naves were covered with painted
wooden decoration and stucco and the new wooden covering of the central
nave was provided with glasses that allowed light to enter.
Still
in the main chapel, the Royal bones were deposited in 1781 in new Tomb
vaults sculpted by Joaquim Machado de Castro and new royal tribunes were
made by António Ângelo between 1787 and 1788. Also for the main chapel
were two organs by Joaquim António Peres Fontanes, with boxes carved by
António Angelo in 1785-86.
Much of the Baroque-era additions were removed from a
major restoration campaign that took place in the first half of the
twentieth century, the aim of which was to return the see something of
its medieval appearance. The first person in charge of the works, in
1902, was Augusto Fuschini, who planned a revivalist building in the
neo-Gothic style. Fuschini demolished some buildings flanking the
church, rebuilt vaults, restored and opened windows, and crowned the
building with battlements. After his death, in 1911, the restoration
project was resumed and modified by António do Couto Abreu, who began to
privilege the still existing medieval structures. The vault of the
central nave was rebuilt, the facade was restored and the Rose Window
was redone, as well as many other changes that gave the building the
neo-Romanesque appearance it has today. In the plans was the
construction of a neo-Gothic main chapel, but opposition from figures
such as architects Raul Lino and Baltasar De Castro saved both the
post-earthquake decoration of the main chapel and the chapel of the
Blessed Sacrament.
After the reforms, the See was reopened in
1940, in a great solemnity promoted by the Estado Novo. A Te Deum was
celebrated in the Cathedral on 5 May 1940, opening the ceremonies
celebrating the 8th centenary of the foundation of Portugal and the 3rd
centenary of Independence. The See was also important in the celebration
of the 8th centenary of the conquest of Lisbon from the Moors, in 1947.
The long series of renovations, earthquakes and reconstructions has made today's see a mixture of styles. The last restoration campaign gave it a revivalist character, but many original elements can still be distinguished.
The original Romanesque design of the Lisbon Cathedral
was very similar to that of the Cathedral of Coimbra, also built from
the second half of the twelfth century.from the initial construction of
the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, the Cathedral maintains the
general scheme of a Latin cross plan of three staggered naves with a
protruding transept. The nave is of six bays, with the central nave
higher than the sides, the central one being covered by a cradle vault
and the sides by Edge vaults. The transept is equally vaulted, crowned
by Rose windows on both tops. On the side naves there is a triforium
(Gallery), in Romanesque style, with an archway open to the central
nave. Over the transept rises a lantern tower, with an octagonal stone
vault.
The main facade of the church, facing West, was greatly
modified in the restorations of the twentieth century, but the general
scheme of a central body with a portal and rose window flanked by two
high buttressed towers follows the original Romanesque design. In the
restorations of the twentieth century the Rose Window was rebuilt, some
windows were opened and the towers and central body were crowned with
battlements. The towers of square plan have in the last register arcades
of five archivolts that allow to see the bells inside. The north tower
is still largely authentic, but the South had to be partially rebuilt
after the 1755 earthquake. Inside the north tower there is a chamber
covered by a vault with four Romanesque masks at the corners, very
similar to the vault of the transept of the Cathedral of Coimbra.
The main portal is protected by a narthex and is still the original
Romanesque. It has four perfect back archivolts with eight capitals
carved with vegetal and figurative motifs. The figurative sculptures
have diverse themes: men fighting mounted on Lions, the Archangel
Michael defeating the dragon, a queen figure (perhaps representing a
virtue) and three small characters that could represent martyrs of
Lisbon. On the north facade there is also a portal of the Romanesque
period, with Capitals with different motifs and probably executed by
other artists.
The interior of the Cathedral has few fenestrations
and is very dark, except in the area of the chancel, which is
illuminated by Lunettes. The central nave is taller than the sides and
has a gallery of arcades - the triforium - similar to that of Coimbra
Cathedral. The nave's cradle vault had to be rebuilt in stone when the
See was restored in the early twentieth century.
On the left side
of the entrance opens a baptistery decorated with paintings and blue and
white tiles that tell episodes from the life of Saint Anthony of Lisbon.
The font is made of marble and has an octagonal shape.
On the
left side of the nave, near the main façade, opens the portal of the
chapel of São Bartolomeu, built C.1324 as a private chapel of the Lisbon
merchant Bartolomeu Joanes. The portal of the chapel, in Gothic style,
is inserted in a gable and has five archivolts of pointed arches with
vegetalist Capitals. Inside, the rectangular chapel contains the Tomb of
Bartholomew Joanes, dating from the fourteenth century and decorated
with the arms of the deceased. Also in the north aisle opens the portal
of the patriarch's dressing room, decorated inside with an altarpiece,
images and paintings of the Baroque era.
The historian Carlos
Alberto Ferreira de Almeida (1934-1996), in his book Historia da Arte em
Portugal: O Romanico (history of Art in Portugal: the Romanesque),
states that in addition to the games of light present in the Cathedral
of Lisbon, another of the magnificent examples of Portuguese Romanesque
present in this building are the fences, iron, wood or bronze that
protect the side chapels where there are relics that were often stolen,
for their economic value or for devotion.
Attached to the south aisle is the sacristy building, built in the mid-seventeenth century (1649) and attributed to the architect Marcos De Magalhães. In the interior, the marble inlays and the wooden arch of António Vaz De Castro stand out.
The transept area still has the original Romanesque
vaults. However, during the 20th century restorations rose windows and
arcades were added at the ends of the arms of the transept which are of
dubious authenticity. In the center and at the top of the transept is
the octagonal vault of the lantern tower, with central floret and ribs
seated on Angle horns. As can be seen in old images of the Cathedral,
the tower that towered over this central area was Square in plan and had
three bodies (floors), but after the earthquake of 1755 it was reduced
to a body covered with a roof.
On the north arm of the transept
is the entrance to the chapel of the Blessed Sacrament, decorated in the
Baroque era.
Surveys carried out during the restoration in the 20th
century showed that the original Romanesque chancel of the See had a
modest structure, with a semicircular Chancel flanked by two apses. The
headboard began to be completely redesigned in the reign of D. Afonso IV
(1325-1357), possibly as early as the 1330s, in a campaign of works that
would only be completed in the early fifteenth century, during the reign
of D. João I. the Gothic headboard consisted of a Chancel surrounded by
the corridor of the ambulatory with several radiant chapels, in a scheme
unique among Portuguese cathedrals. From an artistic point of view, the
head of the Cathedral of Lisbon was the most important Gothic work
between the Monastery of Alcobaça (XII-XIII centuries) and the Monastery
of Batalha (XIV-XV centuries) in Portuguese territory. The ambulatory
still maintains the Gothic style and communicates with the transept by
large pointed arches, but the profiles of the perfect back arches of the
ancient Romanesque apses are still visible.
The corridor of the
ambulatory has a ribbed vault covering and is illuminated by a series of
Windows (clerestory) in the upper area. It is likely that, originally,
the main chapel communicated with the ambulatory through an open
archway, such as the apse of the Monastery of Alcobaça, which would
allow the use of the temple by pilgrims visiting the relics of St.
Vincent, exhibited in the main chapel. This communication, however, was
closed already at the beginning of the fifteenth century. In the
ambulatory opens a series of radiant chapels, also covered by a cross
vault of ogives and equipped with gothic profile Windows. From the side
of the Gospel (north) to the side of the Epistle (South) are the chapel
of the Holy Spirit (or the Holy Trinity), which connects with the north
wing of the cloister, Chapel of Nossa Senhora da Penha de França, Chapel
of Santa Ana, Santa Maria Maior, Santo Ildefonso (or N. S. da
Conceição), São Cosme and São Damião, Nossa Senhora da Piedade, with
access door to the south wing of the cloister, the chapel of São
Sebastião and São Vicente.
Practically all the decoration of
altarpieces and paintings of the Baroque era has been removed from the
chapels of the ambulatory, but some old works remain. In the chapel of
São Cosme e São Damião you can also see the fourteenth-century
sarcophagus of Lopo Fernandes Pacheco, companion in arms of D. Afonso
IV, and his wife Maria Vilalobos. The jacent of the nobleman shows the
bearded figure of the Knight, with his hand on the hilt of his sword and
a dog at his feet, while the figure of the wife, whose head is protected
by a carved baldachin, was represented reading a book of hours with two
dogs sitting at her feet. The two sarcophagi are still decorated with
the coats of arms of the founders on the sides. The chapel of Santa Ana
has the Tomb of an infanta of the royal family, as indicated by the
presence of the Portuguese Shield on the Ark, also with jacente who
represents her reading a book of hours. The chapel of Santa Maria
Maggiore has an iron grille decorated with stylized Phyto-and zoomorphic
motifs. Unique in Portugal, the similarity between this grid and others
in present-day Spain, especially one from the region of Jaca, indicates
that the one of the See of Lisbon was still carried out in the
Romanesque era, between the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.
The
chapel of Santo Ildefonso, on the other hand, houses a nativity scene,
inserted in a machine (vitrine), made by the sculptor Joaquim Machado de
Castro in 1766, as indicated by a legend on the structure ("Joach
Machado Castro / inven. et fecit / 1766"). The Nativity scene includes
depictions inspired by the Bible such as the" Holy Family", The"
Adoration of the Shepherds"," flight into Egypt "etc, compositions with
angels and popular scenes such as a blind man playing the accordion,
people dancing fandango, washerwomen, Mills, a watermill and a"slaughter
of The Pig".
The current main chapel is of baroque character and
was built and decorated in the second half of the eighteenth century,
after the earthquake of 1755. The chapel is of three bays separated by
pilasters with Ionic capitals and is clad in red, white, yellow and blue
limestone panels. The roof is vaulted with Lunettes, which allows light
to enter, covered with stucco and displaying several painted panels. The
themes of the central panels are God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit, while
the side panels, located above the Lunettes, represent symbols
associated with Mary and Christ: the Phoenix, the Agnus Dei, bread, Sun,
wheat, Lily, door, Rose, Pelican and flames. The floor is also covered
with limestones of various shades, forming geometric decorative
patterns.
The front wall of the chapel is occupied by a simple
altar with a painted panel depicting the "assumption of the Virgin"
surrounded by a frame in stonework. Flanking the panel two tribunes with
balcony and balustrade and, next to these, facing, are the arcosolios
with the tombs of D. Afonso IV and his wife D. Beatriz. The tombs,
remade after the earthquake by sculptor Joaquim Machado de Castro, are
urn-shaped. The King's is decorated with Angels opening a curtain and is
surmounted by an eagle and the Latin inscription "Altiora peto" ("I
aspire to greatness"), related to the Battle of Salado, in which D.
Afonso IV had an outstanding performance. The Queen's tomb is decorated
by angels holding a cross, a book and a cornucopia, and is surmounted by
a pelican. Both tombs bear the Royal shields and the symbols of death:
the skull with the crossed tibias.
The main chapel also has two
organs, one of them built in the 1780s by the organist Joaquim António
Peres Fontanes and the other recent, from the 1960s, built by the Dutch
firm Flentrop.
The Gothic cloister of the Cathedral was built during
the reign of D. Dinis and is located to the east of the church, behind
the headboard. In general, cloisters were erected next to medieval
temples, but it is likely that the unevenness of the site of the Lisbon
Cathedral, on the slope of a hill, made it impossible to build a
cloister on either the north or south side. Another "strange" aspect of
the cloister of the Cathedral is the trapezoidal plan, considering that
normally the Cloisters ' squares had a regular square plan. The reasons
for the adoption of this plan are not known, but could relate to
difficulties with the terrain and the existing urban fabric. The
location on a hill required extensive earthworks and leveling of the
land, as well as the construction of large retaining walls, especially
on the south side. Also a good part of the 13th century intramural city
had to be destroyed to make room for the new structure.
The
chronology of the cloister's works is little known. There is a
documentary reference to a great constructive activity in the Cathedral
in 1332 that has traditionally been related to the works of the
cloister, but it is possible that this shipyard was that of the works of
the head of D. Afonso IV, and that the cloister is an earlier work. In
fact, a document shows that, in 1281, there was constructive activity in
the see in charge of a certain Miguel Martins, perhaps related to the
preparation of the land for the implantation of the cloister. Other
documents indicate that from 1302 burials began to be carried out in
cloister chapels, and the chapel of St. Stephen, located in the
southeast corner of the court, would be almost finished in 1305. Based
on this evidence, the historian Paulo Fernandes considers that the
cloister would have been finished in the first years of the fourteenth
century.
The present cloister has three wings on the North, East
and south sides, covered by ogee cross vaults. These vaults have some
formal "anomalies" due to the unusual trapezoidal plan of the court. The
North and East wings are endowed with several chapels. The chapels on
the north side (from West to East) are dedicated to Saint John the
Evangelist, Saint Lawrence, Our Lady of Bethlehem, Lord Jesus of good
judgment, Saint Anthony of Padua and Our Lady of the torch. On the east
side the chapels are dedicated to (from North to South) Saint Alexius,
Saint Michael and souls, Our Lady of the mercy of the loose land (two
chapels), Saint Gervase and Saint Stephen, the latter former Chapter
House. The south wing, in contrast, was greatly affected by the
earthquake of 1755 and the subsequent fire, which caused the ruin of
part of the vault, and was much restored in the twentieth century.
The wing facades facing the centre of the courtyard feature pointed
arcades and stepped buttresses marking the wing spans. These buttresses,
of archaic appearance and which seem too robust for the structures they
support, may have been built in this way due to the relative instability
of the embankment on which the cloister was raised. The arcades sit on
double columns with capitals of vegetalist decoration. Over the arcades
there are glasses (circular openings) with geometric decoration.
During the Middle Ages, one of the main functions of the cloister
chapels was the mortuary, serving the elite of the city. Although badly
damaged in the earthquake and fire of 1755, some are noteworthy. The
chapel of São Lourenço, in the North Wing, has a tomb Ark with a
rhombus-shaped lid with swords in relief and, on the sides, the arms of
D. Lourenço Anes, Instituter of the chapel. The chapel of St. Alexios,
covered by a vault of ogives, has four arcosoliums with tombs with
jacents. One of these, dated to the fourteenth century, belongs to a
lady of unknown identity.
The large chapel of Nossa Senhora da
Pedra Solta, which occupies two sections of the East Wing, is the place
of foundation of the Irmandade Da Misericórdia by Queen D. Leonor, in
1498. The entrance to the chapel is made by a portal with three
archivolts based on thin columnels, the portal being flanked by two
paned windows. Inside there are two tombs with jacentes: that of D.
Margarida Albernaz, from the second quarter of the fourteenth century,
and that of an unidentified bishop, from the first half of the
fourteenth century.
The See of Lisbon houses three organs from different periods. The oldest instrument is on the Gospel Side and was built by Joaquim António Peres Fontanes between 1785 and 1786, together with a similar organ on the Epistle side, which was transferred to the National Pantheon (Church of Santa Engrácia) in the 60s to allow the installation of the new Flentrop organ. The Peres Fontanes organ has a manual and pedalboard and is no longer operational at this time.
The treasury of the Cathedral is accessed through the
south tower, located at the top of the staircase, on the right. It
houses a varied collection of silverware, such as a sixteenth-century
cross from the period of the Iberian Union, ecclesiastical costumes,
statuary, illuminated manuscripts and relics associated with Saint
Vincent.
Chapter room
The Chapter room is accessed by the
Treasury of the See, dating from the eighteenth century.