Church of Santa Engrácia

This was our last stop of the day. Amazing domes, space and views! Interesting street scene on the way out with multiple tuk tuks carrying tourists back down the hill.

It was the Church of Saint Engratia when it was built in 1682, but became the National Pantheon in 1916. Its large dome was only completed in 1966, making it the monument that took the longest to complete in all of Portugal. There’s even an expression in the country for something that takes forever -- “a job like St. Engratia.”It’s said that its construction took forever because it stands on the site of a previous church that was desecrated by a robbery in 1630. A Jew was blamed and executed, only to be exonerated later. Before dying, he said that a new church would never be completed, due to the conviction of an innocent man. He seemed to have prophesied, when the new church collapsed during the first months of construction in 1681 (the cause was the effect of a storm on a poorly-built foundation). It’s considered Portugal’s first baroque monument, but it lacks all the golden ornamentation and blue-and-white tile panels, so typical of Portuguese baroque. Instead, its interior is inspired by St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, and made up of colored marble. Built on an octagonal floor plan centered on a Greek cross, it holds the tombs and cenotaphs of the country’s most important or famous cultural figures, like explorers, presidents, poets, and even Fado diva Amália Rodrigues.

Admission included the climb to the large terrace by the dome, which offers a view over Alfama and the river.Read more