PortoChurchs
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Churches in Porto ( Oporto ) - Porto is a town in Portugal, 263 thousand of population, the second largest town in the country. It lies at the estuary of the river Douro, over the Atlantic Ocean, in northern Portugal. The city is often visited by tourists, who can visit here not only the famous vineyards and beautiful Old Town as well as many historic churches.
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The importance of religion in Portugal
The Portuguese people are Catholics ( 94,5% ), and religious is a very important part of their mentality. The country is full of churches, chapels and altars, and in addition to the traditional Catholic holidays they are celebrated also a local religious holidays. Definitely much more religious is a central and northern parts of the country, where the strong religion impact on the life of the inhabitants we can see at each step. The most important religious centers in Portugal are Fatima (Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fatima), Braga (one of the oldest Christian cities in all of the world) and Porto, where churches are testimony to past history of Portugal and frequently changing architectural styles in this region.
The most important churches in Porto
Churches in Porto are one of the world's biggest concentration of medieval, renaissance, baroque and classical stylein architecture.. Their designers are in the majority the world famous masters of the art, who had a huge impact not only on Porto culture but also on Portuguese culture. Churches in Porto are generally monuments and the most of them are located in the old part of town. Some of them are now museums which present a wonderful collection of religious art, and in others churches are still celebrate the daily messes. In a new, urbanized parts of the city we can see a new and modern buildings of churches. However they are not so beautiful and interesting for the tourist from a historical point of view.
Igreja e Torre dos Clérigos [1]
The church was built in the eighteenth century by the Italian architect and painter Nicolau Nasoni, who at his own request after dead was buried in this church. Construction of the church began in 1732 and completed around 1750. Front of the temple is richly decorated by Baroque themes, as well as wreaths and shells. The Church is characterized by masterful sense of space, the use of local granite to build and theatricality facades.The central frieze located above the window shows the symbols of worship and the incense. Inside the church we can see a lot of intricate and gold sculptures, which represent a riches, which at that time possessed Portugal. Igreja dos Clérigos was one of the first baroque churches in Portugal, which have adopted the baroque, elliptical distribution of the building.
Torre dos Clérigos (tower), located at the rear of the church, was built between 1754 and 1763. The building was modeled also by Nicolau Nasoni. The tower is 75.6 meters tall. To enter the peak of 6-storey tower, 225 steps to be overcome. The tower is built in Baroque style, with many statues of saints, cornices and balustrades. Currently, the tower is a great vantage point from which we can admire the magnificent panorama of Porto.
Igreja do Carmo [2] and Igreja dos Carmelitas [3]
Igreja do Carmo was built in the second half of the eighteenth century, between 1756 and 1768, by the architect José Figueiredo Seixas, and presents the baroque style. The extraordinary facade decorated with azulejos made by Silvestre Silvestri (1910-1912) makes that church is easy to identify. It shows scenes related to a Carmelite convent and a Mount Caramel. Inside we can watch the elegant, gold sculptures - especially seven altars, which are the finest examples of Portuguese Rococo.
Right next to is located a twin church - Igreja das Carmelitas. Its construction began in 1616 and was completed in 1628. The interior was finished in 1650. The older and splended church almost adjacent to the Igreja do Carmo, but not completely. Under the old law, the two churches could not have a common wall. As a result, between the churches was construction a bulding, which is probably the narrowest house in Portugal - only one meter wide. Despite that now its stands empty this unusual house was inhabited for 80 years of the twentieth century. Carmelite church's interior has a Latin cross plan, with six side chapels, and present the baroque and rococo styles, which were very popular in Porto. Designer and principal constractor of the altar was José Teixeira Guimaraes.
Sé Catedral [4]
The Roman Catholic Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Porto; built on a hill with rocks, a few hundred meters from the station Sao Bento.It is a temple with defense and high walls. Catedra firstly was a Romanesque building and after, in the eighteenth, was rebuilt century in Baroque style. Around the Cathedral is a broad terrace from which we can see a magnificent view of the old town. Inside the temple we can admire a strange mixture of Baroque, Gothic and Romanesque architecture. There is also a historic silver altar and the historic Renaissance stairs. An another important element of the Sé Catedral are the cloisters, designed by Nicolau Nasoni in the eighteenth century and decorated with beautiful baroque azulejos. On the north tower of the Cathedral we can also find a sculpture representing the fourteenth-century ship which has to remind people the country's maritime history. Cathedral is on UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Beside the Cathedral we can admire historic Paco Episcopal. It is a medieval Archbishop's Palace, also rebuilt by Nasoni in 1737. Nowdays there is a curia and the building is unfortunately closed to the public.
Igreja de Santo Ildefonso [5]
This beautiful church is situated on a hill in the center of Porto, on Praca da Batalha and was built in 1730 and presents a very interesting baroque style. The facade consists of two twin towers and a very fancy fronton. In the central niche we see the statue of Saint Ildefons, the patron of the temple. A whole Church is decorated by wall tiles - azulejos, made by Jorge Colaço (1932), which are showing scenes from the life of San Ildefonso and allegories of the Eucharist. Thanks to this, the building presents very interesting against the gray, urban background. The interior of the church is equally interesting. Inside the church is built almost completely of wood - wooden beams support the roof and decorate the main altar and side niches. Very interesting monument there is carved rococo altar from the late eighteenth century. The rest of walls have a plaster finishes and the whole interior id decoreted by a plaster, golden sculpture.
The church was built in Baroque style, on the plan of the polygon. Instead, the interior niches and altars present Neo-Classical architecture and wall sculptures are in rococo style.
