Lisbon Se

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Largo De Se, Lisbon, Portugal

Description: Also known as the Patriarchal Cathedral of St. Mary Major, this millennia old cathedral is the oldest church in the city, and still serves as the current site of the Archdiocese of Lisbon. The cathedral features a tradit...Read More

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Se Skyline Photo - Lisbon Se, Lisbon, Portugal

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I See The Se; The Se Sees Me

by Liam Hetherington

Manchester, United Kingdom

May 10, 2010

Best of IgoUgo The Sé (cathedral) does not look like much in photographs. It looks small, crammed in by all the houses around it, jolted by the trams rattling by on the corner. It is certainly nowhere near as ornate as many of the later churches that speckle the ...Read more The Sé (cathedral) does not look like much in photographs. It looks small, crammed in by all the houses around it, jolted by the trams rattling by on the corner. It is certainly nowhere near as ornate as many of the later churches that speckle the cityscape. But this cathedral, founded in 1150 to celebrate the Christians’ ousting of the Moors, has a simple charm to it. Its frontage is that of a border fortress, battlemented, with two towers that rise higher than the surrounding edifices. Its deeply recessed door is surmounted by a circular rose window.

Entry is free, and inside it is pure vaulted gothic, dark and atmospheric (and made even more so by piped-in Gregorian chanting). To the left of the entrance in the font in which St Anthony of Padua is claimed to have been baptised (you can see carvings of him preaching to the fishes and animals). There are a succession of simple side chapels (and one not quite so simple with a massive gold retable and a shopaholic’s selection of mitres. It costs €2.50 to access the ambulatory and cloisters. Instead we paid €2.50 to visit the upstairs Treasury. This is where they keep the good stuff. On display are the relics of long-dead saints (including St Vincent, patron saint of the city, whose relics appeared in the city in 1173, supposedly having been brought across the seas in a boat piloted by ravens), a whole colour-coded wardrobe of priestly vestments, ostrich-plumed liturgical fans and a selection of reliquary-shaped carrying cases (designed to answer the all-too-common problem of just how to pack that awkwardly shaped reliquary in ones hand luggage). There was one particular monstrance (a vessel designed to showcase the Eucharistic host) that caught my eye. It was fashioned from gold and studded with rubies, emeralds and other priceless gems. Practically the entire wealth of Brazil, torn from the earth at the cost of the lives of thousands of slaves, must have ended up encrusting that particular bit of ecclesiastical frippery. A truly monstrous monstrance!

The Sé is by no means a must-see, but is certainly worth a look if you are in the area.
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From journal The Sweetest Capital City In Europe?

Lisbon Se

by roza4

Cinnaminson, New Jersey

May 16, 2004

Best of IgoUgo Phone: 21 886 67 52 Open: Tues-Sat 9am-7pm; Sun-Mon and holidays 9am-5pm Cloister and treasury open 10am-5pm Cathedrals in Portugal are called Se. Lisbon Se is a very Romanesque cathedral with yellow stone façade with the entrance arch and two ...Read more

From journal Travels in Portugal - The best of Lisbon - Part I

Lisbon Se

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I See The Se; The Se Sees Me

Lisbon Se

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