Also known as Igreja de Santa Maria Maior, its the main church in Lisbon, and its building was started in 1150 by D. Afonso Henriques, 3 years after having conquered the city to the Moors. The site was the place of the city's main mosque, The Aljama Mosque, used for the friday prayers. Some archaeological remains suggest that in the same site prior to the mosque was a Visigothic church, and prior to it, the Roman Forum of the city.
The first Bishop of the church was Gilbert de Hastings, who was part of the army of crusaders that helped to conquer it.
The Building was severely hit by a number of earthquakes trough the years, the last one in 1755 almost completely destroyed it. The repairs were only finished in the 1940's when the wooden roof was replaced by a stone one. Even today you can see the marks of the quake and the fire that followed, in the partially destroyed cloister. The cloister was excavated in recent years revealing a Roman street and part of a Moorish public building, probably a bathhouse or a madrasa. #Afonso_Henriques #Church #Igreja #Lisboa #Moor #Mosque #Portugal #Reconquista #Romanico #Sé
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