Igreja de Sao Roque (Lisbon)
The Igreja de São Roque (St. Rochus Church) is a Jesuit church in the Bairro Alto district of Lisbon , which is one of the most magnificent churches on the Iberian Peninsula . As it was not destroyed by the devastating earthquake of 1755 and because of its unique São João Baptista chapel, it is one of the most magnificent churches in the world. The namesake of the church is St. Rochus of Montpellier .
history
In the beginning there was only a small chapel on the property of today's church, which was still outside the walls of the city of Lisbon when the foundation stone was laid. It was already dedicated to St. Rochus and contained relics of this saint from Venice . King John (João) III. handed over the property to the Jesuits , who commissioned the construction of the church in 1566 and commissioned the Italian builder and architect Filippo Terzi . He managed the construction in collaboration with the two Portuguese architects Afonso and Bartolomeu Álvares . In 1596 the church was completed. The severe earthquake in Lisbon, which destroyed almost the entire city, only caused slight damage to the outer facade.
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architecture
St. Rochus is a single-aisled hall church in the Renaissance style . The attached museum belongs to the church building itself. The facade is very simple, which can be explained by the cost-cutting measures in the course of the Counter Reformation .
São João Baptista Chapel
Most important inside the church is the fourth São João Baptista (St. John the Baptist ) chapel , which is one of the most magnificent Catholic church chapels in the world. It was commissioned in 1742 by King John V on the basis of a vow in Rome , consecrated by Pope Benedict XIV in 1744 , dismantled and brought to Lisbon in 3 ships in 1749, where it was reassembled. The most valuable materials were used, such as the finest marble for the floor ; other materials were alabaster , lapis lazuli , ivory , jade , and amethyst . Around 100 Italian artists were involved in the construction of the chapel. It was created based on designs by the famous Luigi Vanvitelli . The most famous of the artists was Nicola Salvi , who also designed the famous Trevi Fountain in Rome . A drawn armillary sphere , the emblem of King Manuel I and at the same time the coat of arms of Portugal, is embedded in the marble floor . The king financed this two million cruzados work with gold from Brazil .
Interior
The rest of the interior is also remarkable: the coffered ceiling and the associated ceiling painting - a trompe-l'oeil - were completed in 1588. At that time, the wood had to be obtained from Germany , as wood of this size could not be obtained anywhere on the Iberian Peninsula. The azulejos , by Francisco de Matos , were installed and painted in 1584. There are also significant tombs in the church, such as those of Dom Tomas de Almeida , the first patriarch of the city of Lisbon, or of Simão Rodrigues , who introduced the Jesuits to Portugal in 1540. Many of the candlesticks in the individual chapels are made by well-known artists, for example Simon Miglie or Pietro Werschaffelt . As is common in Portugal, gilded carvings can be found everywhere in the church (called Talha Dourada ).
museum
The museum adjacent to the church building was formerly the Casa da Misericordia poor and foundling house , today the Museo de Arte Sacra de São Roque (Museum of Sacred Art). It also contains great works of art: paintings from the Portuguese School, including a portrait of the church founder, Dom João III, attributed to Gregorio Lopes . of Portugal and his wife Katharina; a painting depicting the wedding of King Emmanuel I with his wife Dona Eleonore, as well as paintings by Baltasar Coelho da Silveira , Gaspar Dias , Vieira Lusitano . There is also a lot of furniture, censer, relics, crucifixes and other sacred objects in the museum. A torchbearer by the famous Italian artist Giuseppe Gagliardi can also be admired there.
meaning
The importance of the church is mainly due to the São João Baptista chapel. The chapel is one of the examples of the splendor of the absolutist King João V, who, in his religious madness, invested all his fortune in the church and in magnificent works , along with the monastery castle of Mafra and the university library of Coimbra . The German writer Esther Bernard was probably the first German to describe the church in 1802. The church is also a relic of the Portuguese Renaissance that has withstood the vicissitudes of centuries and is still a piece of the mosaic of the former splendor of the merchant and seafaring city of Lisbon before the earthquake.
literature
- Merian Lisbon Classics. Gräfe and Unzer Verlag, 2005, pp. 77/78.
- Proper travel - Portugal. Dumont-Verlag, 1988, p. 96.
- Lisbon - a literary portrait. Insel-Verlag, 1997, pp. 277-279, (text by E. Bernard).
- Jakob Job: Portugal - Land of the Christ Knights: Eugen Rentsch Verlag, 1956, pp. 22–23.
- Knaur's cultural guide in color - Portugal. 1998, pp. 146-147.
- Jörg Schubert: Lisbon. Pinguin-Verlag, 1981, p. 89.
- Art and history Lisbon: Bonechi-Verlag, undated, p. 25.
- Merian booklet Lisbon. 2004, p. 117.
Web links
Coordinates: 38 ° 42 '48.8 " N , 9 ° 8' 36.1" W.