Visitors to the church can descend down to crypt chapel that marks St. Anthony’s birthplace. According to the Lisbon church, the first chapel was built at the “House of St. Anthony” shortly after his canonization in 1232. The church has been rebuilt many times over the centuries, most recently in 1767 in a Baroque style.
St. John Paul II visited the church and prayed in the crypt chapel in 1982 before continuing on to Fatima to give thanks to the Blessed Virgin Mary for saving him from an assassination attempt. The pope also inaugurated a statue of the saint, which can be seen outside of the church.
Lisbon Cathedral
St. Anthony was baptized in the Lisbon’s Metropolitan Cathedral of St. Mary Major, or Santa Maria Maior de Lisboa in Portuguese, located just a block away from the Church of St. Anthony.
The cathedral, built in 1147, is the oldest Catholic church in Lisbon. The baptismal font, locally believed to be the original, is found to the left to the main entrance of the cathedral in an alcove decorated with traditional blue-and-white Portuguese tiles.
Each year on June 13, the feast of St. Anthony, Catholics in Lisbon participate in a lively procession through the streets of St. Anthony’s old neighborhood in the Alfama district.
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The annual procession, which dates back more than 250 years, leaves from the Church of St. Anthony and passes by the Lisbon Cathedral.
The massive celebration of St. Anthony’s feast in Lisbon continues with music, dancing, and grilled sardines.
Monastery of St. Vincent’s Outside the Walls
St. Anthony entered religious life in the Augustinian Order in 1210 at the Monastery of São Vicente de Fora, or the Monastery of St. Vincent Outside the Walls in Lisbon.
With walls adorned with traditional blue-and-white azulejo tiles and frescoed ceilings, the monastery, rebuilt in the late 16th century, is a stunning example of High Renaissance art and architecture.
While not as centrally located as the other two churches, the monastery’s rooftop has stunning views of the rest of the city.
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