In this report, we look at the white cathedral “Igreja de Santa Engrácio” in Lisbon, Portugal. The church, also known as the “Pantheon” is also used as a mausoleum for many celebrities, but when I went there, it was a marble-looking church that was worth seeing!
The symmetrical architectural beauty is amazing! There are few people and the ticket price is cheap, so I recommend it!
※This article was written before the virus scandal. This will be updated.
Index
300 years in architecture, a white mausoleum
Igreja de Santa Engracia is here. It is close to Santa Apolonia Station but it takes a long time to access as you have to follow the uphill path.
A white church on a hill. It has a very powerful appearance when you see it nearby! As you can see from the satellite picture, this church has a large square shape with a dome roof in the center.
It was completed in 1966 and is relatively new, but construction is said to have started in 1684. It took nearly 300 years to complete because it was left unfinished for a while.
Today, it serves as a mausoleum and houses famous persons related to Portugal.
Ticket is €4, pamphlet is €1
Enter from the front entrance, and the ticket booth is on the left side. You can buy tickets here. The entrance fee is €4, but you can buy a set ticket with the Azulejo Museum (€7), or you can buy a common ticket for various facilities.
Pamphlets are priced separately at €1. There is also an English version, and it is a pretty good thing made of cardboard! There is a map of the building with a focus on the history of the church, so you should definitely get it.
a fine marble auditorium
Well, the inside is open to visitors, and we will first visit the main floor of the church. The spacious auditorium with no pillars has a baroque interior covered with massive marble. It doesn’t look dazzling, but the unique design of the floor and the refined architectural beauty of marble are splendid!
There is no main altar like a church, but there is a pipe organ in the center of the front that is said to have been built in the 18 century. Apparently it was brought in from Lisbon Cathedral.
There are a total of six memorial monuments in the dents of the walls on both sides. Noted on the walls are Portuguese celebrities known to everyone, including Vasco da Gama, Prince Enrique and Luís de Camões, the famous name of a square in downtown Lisbon.
There is a rope in front of the memorial monument, so unfortunately you cannot get close.
If you look up, you can see the back of the large dome roof that forms the center of the church. Only this dome roof was built in the 20 century, but there is a corridor around this roof where you can climb (to be described later).
There is a museum and an observation deck upstairs
After visiting the main floor, take the stairs at the back of the ticket booth to the upper floor. There is no extra charge.
The upper floors are divided into several layers, and the lower floors are corridors surrounding the church. If you put your head out of the window, you can see the inside of the church from a high place.
There is a museum on the top floor that exhibits things related to the church. You can see the stones and pillars that were used to build the church, as well as the model that overlooks the whole church.
From the top floor where the museum is located, you can go to the observatory on the roof of the church. Everything around the dome roof is a viewing space, so you can see a 360 degree view, but the view is not so good as it is not very high …
But the view of the building with a red roof along the slope leading to the river is very emotional and good!
The dome roof corridor is thrilling!
Also, the top floor with the observatory is connected to the corridor inside the dome roof. You can overlook the inside of the church from the corridor with handrails. …
If you look down, this is quite thrilling! I feel like I’m being sucked into a space with no pillars or anything, and even if I don’t have acrophobia, my feet sag …! The height of the handrail is only about 1 meter, so it’s really dangerous if you play with each other.
You can also look at the pipe organ from above. However, if you look carefully, the top of the pipe was blackened by the dust, and the golden pipe which I used to make was ruined. … It would be very shiny if I polished it, but somehow it was a waste …
Since there are few people, I recommend it!
Igreja de Santa Engracia was worth seeing. This time I visited around 15 o’clock on a weekday, and the inside of the building was very quiet with few people coming in, so I was able to enjoy it calmly!
The entrance fee is cheap and I especially recommend it to people who are interested in architecture!
Igreja de Santa Engrácia
- Address：Campo de Santa Clara, 1100-471 Lisboa
- Opening house：10:00～17:00
- Closed: Mondays, Easter, 1/1, 5/1, 12/25
★Please also try this → “Lisbon” article list