Next to the Jeronimos Monastery and to the Belem Tower, the Old Church of Our Lady of the Conception (its facade, at least) is one of the few remaining edifices in Lisbon built in the exquisite Manueline style, standing out by the lushness of the decorative motifs: armillary spheres, angelic entities, beasts, vegetal motifs. Located in the Baixa district, in the close vicinity of Praca do Comercio, the present Old Church of Our Lady of the Conception dates back, however, to the 18th century, when a former place of worship (Church of Our Lady of the Mercy) was reconstructed as a result of the 1755 earthquake.

Renaissance motifs embellish the portal and the facade windows of the church, but Gothic features can also be spotted in the overall amount of decorations. The tympanum of the portal is worth special attention: it renders Our Lady of the Mercy the mantle of whom, while held by two angels, covers in a sheltering gesture sundry statesmen and clergymen of Portugal (Leonor of Viseu, Pope Alexander VI, the Bishop of Lisbon, King Manuel I and Queen Eleanor).

Name:
Old Church of Our Lady of the Conception (Igreja de Nossa Senhora da Conceicao Velha)
Address:
Rua da Alfandega, Lisbon, Portugal
Opening hours:
8am to 7pm
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