Church of Nossa Senhora da Conceição Velha, Religious monument in Santa Maria Maior, Portugal.
Igreja da Conceição Velha is a Catholic church in the Santa Maria Maior neighborhood of Lisbon, known for its richly carved Manueline portal on the main facade. The rest of the exterior is plain by comparison, which makes the sculpted doorway stand out clearly when you approach from the street.
The church was built in the early 16th century and originally served as the headquarters of the Misericórdia, a Portuguese brotherhood devoted to caring for the sick and the poor. After the 1755 earthquake destroyed most of Lisbon, the building was reconstructed, though the original portal survived and was incorporated into the new structure.
The stone portal shows carved figures of the Madonna sheltering people under her cloak, a well-known image in Portuguese religious art called the Virgin of Mercy. Royal figures and angels appear alongside her, reflecting the close ties between the monarchy and the church in 16th-century Portugal.
The church is in the old part of Lisbon and easy to reach on foot from the waterfront or nearby historic streets. As an active place of worship, visitors are expected to dress modestly and avoid visiting during services.
Unlike most churches, this building runs north to south rather than the traditional east to west, a direct result of how it was rebuilt after the earthquake. The Manueline portal is one of the few surviving pieces of the original 16th-century structure in this part of Lisbon.
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