Monuments

Church of the Monastery of Santa Cruz
One of the largest churches in Lamego, this building originally belonged to the monastery of the same name, founded in the sixteenth century as an endowment for the Lóios monks, who maintained it in good order until the Religious Orders were suppressed in 1834.

The church´s façade, squeezed between two sturdy bell-towers, is not particularly striking, but its spacious single-naved interior is well worth a visit, because of the beautiful carved and gilded woodwork used to decorate the side chapels. A special pause should also be made at the chapel of the Holy Family, with its panels of azulejos telling the story of St. Joseph´s dream and the Virgin Mary´s wedding.

In the transept, you should not forget to "read" the stories of the lives of St. Anthony of Lisbon and St. Benedict of Nurcia recounted in the beautiful seventeenth-century azulejos that line its walls, nor should you leave the church without taking a look at the azulejos in the chancel, laid a century later and depicting scenes from the Apocalypse, as well as other scenes drawn from the profane life (palace gardens, fountains and figures).