Santo António Church

The Santo António Church (Portuguese: Igreja de Santo António de Lisboa) is located in Lisbon, Portugal. It is dedicated to Saint Anthony of Lisbon, best known around the Christian world as Saint Anthony of Padua. According to tradition, the church was built on the site where the saint was born, in 1195.

History

Fernando de Bulhões - Saint Anthony - was born in Lisbon in 1195, the son of a wealthy family. In 1220, while studying in Coimbra, he entered the Franciscan Order, adopting the name António. His missionary travels would lead him to Italy, where he settled in Padua. Due to his immense popularity, he was canonised less than a year after his death, in 1232.

The site of the family house where Fernando was born, located very close to Lisbon Cathedral, was turned into a small chapel in the 15th century. This early building, from which nothing remains, was rebuilt in the early 16th century, during the reign of King Manuel I. The Lisbon Senate was located on a house just beside the chapel. A religious brotherhood (Irmandade de Santo António) dedicated to the saint was founded in the 16th century.

In 1730, under King John V, the church was rebuilt and redecorated. In the 1755 Lisbon Earthquake the Santo António Church was destroyed, with only the main chapel left standing. It was fully rebuilt after 1767 to a Baroque-Rococo design by architect Mateus Vicente de Oliveira. This is the church that can be visited today.

Since 1755 a procession leaves the church every June 13th, passes by Lisbon Cathedral and goes through the slopes of Alfama neighbourhood, located nearby. The 13th of June is Saint Anthony's "patron saint day" and occurs in the "Popular Saint Festivities" celebrated by Lisbon; during the morning special bread is given to the oldest women of each family.

On May 12th 1982, Pope John Paul II visited the church. He inaugurated a statue of Saint Anthony (by sculptor Soares Branco) in the square in front of the church and prayed in the crypt, which marks the spot where the saint was born.

References and external links

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Nikolay Gvozdevskiy
30 July 2013
Visit sanctuary. It's so nice, with open excavations of Roman and Muslim periods and funny exotic monsters on the pieces of columns.
James Gooch
14 May 2018
Beautiful inside and out. Go early or later on to miss the crowds and it’s very peaceful.
S.M.
8 February 2018
Really nice church in a beautiful area.
Claudio Reginaldo
22 October 2013
Toda terça-feira a missa das 17h é especial em homenagem a Santo Antônio e faz parte da celebração adoração ao ostensório que protege um fragmento de osso do santo.
José Eduardo Teixeira
29 October 2015
Igreja onde nasceu e viveu durante um período Santo Antônio. É possível visitar o quarto onde nasceu. Vale a visita.
José Pérez
16 August 2015
Bonita y bien cuidada, mejor por la tarde que hay menos turistas. Dejan usar flash. Puedes entrar con pantalón corto y tirantes
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Map
Rua Pedras Negras 1, 1100-401 Lisbon, Portugal Get directions
Fri 11:00 AM–7:00 PM
Sat 10:00 AM–7:00 PM
Sun 11:00 AM–8:00 PM
Mon 10:00 AM–7:00 PM
Tue 11:00 AM–7:00 PM
Wed 10:00 AM–7:00 PM

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