Igreja de Santa Luzia in Lisbon

Igreja de Santa Luzia is a church in Lisbon's Alfama district, on Largo de Santa Luzia. It stands right beside the Miradouro de Santa Luzia viewing terrace, which looks over the lower part of Alfama and the Tagus river. The building is classified as a National Monument (Monumento Nacional).

What is the history of the church?

The first church on this spot was built by the knights of the Order of Malta, also known as the Hospitallers, during the reign of King Afonso Henriques. Accounts date the original building to the 12th century, and it stood on the site of a former Moorish fortification.

The present building dates from the 18th century. After the great earthquake of 1 November 1755 partly destroyed the church, it was rebuilt to designs by the architect Mateus Vicente de Oliveira. The new structure rose over the earlier church and over a section of the Moorish wall. Its main body follows what existed before the disaster, and the reconstruction had to account for the positions of the many tombs set into the floor and walls.

What is inside?

The church has a Latin cross plan with a single nave. Its interior preserves about ten tombs, in the form of gravestones and funerary monuments. Two are in the chancel, five in the transept and three in the nave. These tombs are what earned the National Monument classification.

Above the entrance you can see a Maltese cross, a reminder of the church's ties to the Order of Malta.

Which azulejos can you see at the church?

The main draw for passers-by is the set of large azulejo panels, the painted ceramic tiles, on the church's south wall. They are easy to see from the terraced garden of the viewpoint. They show three subjects:

• the Christian siege of St George's Castle (Castelo de São Jorge) in 1147,
• Praça do Comércio as it looked before the 1755 earthquake, before the square was largely destroyed and rebuilt,
• an image of St Lucy (Santa Luzia), the church's namesake.

How to visit

The church and the viewpoint sit side by side, so it is simple to combine them in one walk through Alfama. The azulejo panels can be enjoyed from outside without entering the church. It is worth lingering, because from one spot you take in both the historic tile scenes and the Alfama rooftops with the Tagus beyond.

Frequently asked questions

Where is Igreja de Santa Luzia? In Lisbon's Alfama district, on Largo de Santa Luzia, next to the Miradouro de Santa Luzia.

Is the church a listed monument? Yes. It is a National Monument, and the classification covers about ten tombs preserved inside.

Who rebuilt the church after the earthquake? The architect Mateus Vicente de Oliveira led the reconstruction after 1755.

What do the azulejos on the church wall show? The 1147 siege of St George's Castle, Praça do Comércio before the earthquake, and St Lucy.

Where is the best place to see the azulejos? From the garden of the Miradouro de Santa Luzia, by the church's south wall.