Guimaraes - Nossa Senhora da Oliveira

The Largo da Oliveira is dominated by the collegiate church of Nossa Senhora da Oliveira. The church, originally founded by Afonso Henriques in the 12th C., in thanksgiving for his victory in the battle of Ourique, stands on the site of an earlier convent founded by Countess Mumadona in the 10th C. It was considerably enlarged in 1387-1400 by Joao I to commemorate the battle of Aljubarrota, when most of the original Romanesque cloister was demolished.

The church as it appears today is largely 16th C.; the Manueline tower was added in 1505.

Features of the interior of the church include a Gothic stone altar and the Romanesque baptismal font from the Capela de Sao Miguel do Castelo, where Afonso I Henriques is said to have been christened. The silver altar in the sacramental chapel is particularly valuable.