For the slideshow about the Church of St. Vicente de Fora not to stay too long, it was only exhibited the panels with beautiful decorative blue tiles, the Pantheon of the Royal House of Braganza (Bragança, in Portuguese), the sacred art museum, some aspects of the church exteriors and a very small homage to Amália Rodrigues, the greatest "Fado" singer of all times, although her mortal remains rest in another church nearby. Therefore, the interior of the church and the Pantheon of the Portuguese Patriarch Cardinals (if the visit will be allowed) will be shown in another occasion. In full English, the church would be called Saint Vincent Outside the Walls; in fact, the word "Outside" means "de Fora", because there was in the place a former church with the same name and, when built, it was outside the city walls that protected the city of Lisbon. More specifically, the former church was erected under the orders of D. Afonso Henriques (the first king of Portugal), c. 1147. The first architect of the actual church was the Italian Fillipo Terzi (1520-1597) and then the Spanish Juan de Herrera (1530-1593) the architect of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, followed by others. The church, situated in the historical quarter of Alfama, was built between 1582 and 1629. The dome was severely destroyed during the earthquake of November 1, 1755, but was rebuilt. Only a small curiosity: Where the Royal Pantheon now stands was formerly the refectory of the monastery linked to the church. By orders of king Fernando (Ferdinand) II, the place of the refectory is now the Pantheon, since 1855. Until then, the tombs were kept in a room next to the main chapel of the church. (Shot in September 4, 2011)
