Churches

The ‘mother house' for the Benedictine order of monks in both Portugal and Brazil, the Monastery of São Martinho de Tibães was founded in around 1060. By the 1500s the original monastery buildings had fallen into disrepair. Its monks therefore set about entirely reconstructed it, using the money they received from donations and ground rents in the region.

The Chapel of São Frutuoso was, incredibly, first built by the Visigoth kingdom in the sixth century AD. This makes it some 1500 years old, and one of few such structures to exist anywhere in Portugal. Today its squat Greek cross form and plain stone exterior is somewhat overshadowed by the much later Church of São Salvador, which is connected to it on one side.

Dating to origins in the thirteenth century, the Igreja de São Leonardo is the parish church to the region of Atouguia da Baleia in Peniche. It is the oldest place of Christian worship in Peniche. According to local legend, the church was initially constructed with whale bones that had washed up on the shoreline nearby.

A Portuguese national monument since 1949, almost as soon as it was built it became a burial place for the Counts of Atouguia. Perhaps as a result, it has seen a successive series of embellishments throughout the centuries.

This pretty little chapel stands at the western end of the Peniche peninsula, near Cabo Cavoeiro, and is believed to date from the 1600s. However, it sits on land that has been considered holy since images of the Virgin Mary appeared in a cave here in medieval times. According to local legend, they were discovered by a pirate seeking refuge. 

The largest church in Peniche, the Igreja de São Pedro (Church of Saint Peter) sits at the heart of the historic town centre. It dates back to the late 1500s, a similar period to the fortress home of the Museu Municipal de Peniche. 

The Basilica of Our Lady of the Martyrs (Basílica de Nossa Senhora dos Mártires) is one of a trio of Rococo / Baroque churches built within a stone's throw of each other on Chiado's Rua da Garrett. This and the other two strikingly similar churches were built in the late 18th century after much of the area was flattened by the great earthquake of 1755.

Set within a complex of two churches; the 15th century church of Santo António dos Frades and Igreja dos Terceiros - just to the south of the town centre, is the Museu dos Terceiros or Museum of the Third Order. This is in part a museum of sacred art but it the churches themselves also from much of the interest.

The late 15th century church of São João Baptista is Vila do Conde's "mother" church and without doubt the most interesting in the town. Located in the attractive setting of the central Praça Vasco da Gama the bare granite church stands across from the 18th century town hall and other buildings of the period.

The stretch of coast along Costa da Caparica is home to a slightly strange geological feature where the cliffs rise not from the sea, but several hundred metres inland. This is most pronounced in the resort town itself where behind the apartment blocks is a small plain with fields. Suddenly, a steep escarpment rises up, and it is here that you will find the 16th century Convento dos Capuchos.

The parish church (Igreja Matriz) in Albufeira is one of the finest examples of neoclassical architecture in the Algarve. Built in the late 18th century it stands on the site of an earlier church which was converted from a pre-existing mosque.

Inside there is a single nave with four neoclassical side altars which contain notable artworks featuring St. Louis and St. Peter. Also worthy of note is the filigree stucco-work on the barrel vault ceiling.