Lisbon - Igreja do Loreto

The Igreja do Loreto (1517), striking on account of its double flight of entrance steps, forms the northwestern corner of the Largo do Chiado leading to the Rua Misericórdia. It was destroyed by fire in 1651 and 100 years later destroyed again by the earthquake.

The architect of the opera house, J. da Costa e Silva, was responsible for the renovation and the rebuilding in 1784, when the original Mannerist facade was retained. The ceiling painting in the single aisled interior portraying the Santa do Loreto, the work of Pedro Alexandrino, is most striking.

A further name, Igreja dos Italianos, dates from the time when an apparently large Italian colony used the church as the center of their community. At the beginning of the 20th C. Sunday Mass here served as a meeting point for the upper classes.