Igreja de Nossa Senhora das Mercês, Baroque church in Misericórdia, Portugal.
Igreja de Nossa Senhora das Mercês is a baroque church located in the Misericórdia neighborhood of Lisbon, featuring an ornately carved stone facade. The building displays detailed religious motifs and decorative elements throughout its interior and exterior surfaces.
A first church was built on Largo de Jesus between 1615 and 1623 for the Franciscan Third Order. It was badly damaged by the 1755 earthquake, and the present church was rebuilt in the third quarter of the 18th century to plans by Joaquim de Oliveira. Since 1834, when religious orders were suppressed in Portugal, it has served as the parish church of Mercês. In 2010 it was included in a Public Interest ensemble with the former convent, the Academy of Sciences, the Geological Museum, the Chapel of the Third Order and the Hospital de Jesus.
The name Mercês refers to Our Lady of Mercy, while the older title Jesus comes from the adjoining Convento de Jesus of the Franciscan Third Order. Since 1834 the former convent church has served as the parish church of the Mercês community, and it stands on Largo de Jesus beside the Academia das Ciências, housed in the old convent since 1838.
The church stands on Largo de Jesus, sharing the square with the former Convento de Nossa Senhora de Jesus, home to the Academia das Ciências since 1838, the Liceu de Passos Manuel, the Hospital de Jesus and the Palácio Mendia. The square lies in the Misericórdia parish of central Lisbon, near the Bairro Alto and Chiado areas.
The 2010 classification covers more than the church: the former Convento de Nossa Senhora de Jesus, remains of its convent enclosure, the Academia das Ciências, the Museu Geológico, the Capela da Ordem Terceira and the Hospital de Jesus form one Conjunto de Interesse Público around the Largo de Jesus.
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