A Baroque church above the Alfama
Igreja de Santa Luzia is a small church in Lisbon's Alfama district, rebuilt in the 18th century after the 1755 earthquake and known for the blue-and-white azulejo tile panels on its outer wall, which depict the 1147 siege of São Jorge Castle and pre-earthquake Lisbon. It also serves as national seat of the Portuguese Knights of Malta.
Tiles from a ruined church came to rest here
The tile panels on the church's side wall did not start here. They were made first for the Church of Santo André, across the city, and hung on its walls until the 1755 earthquake tore that building apart too. Craftsmen at the Viúva Lamego workshop had glazed them to show two scenes: the 1147 siege of São Jorge Castle, and Lisbon's waterfront as it looked before the quake. After Santo André fell, the surviving panels came to Santa Luzia, where they still hang.
The church became the seat of the Knights of Malta
Rebuilt, the church took on a second role it keeps today. It became the national seat of the Assembly of Portuguese Knights of the Order of Malta, the modern descendant of the medieval military order some accounts tie to its founding. A Maltese cross marks the entrance above the door, a plain sign of who gathers inside.
Visitors come mostly for what stands beside it. The Miradouro de Santa Luzia viewpoint sits just past the church wall, a terrace looking down over the rooftops of Alfama to the Tagus. The church itself stays open through the day, free to enter, a small stop on the way to the railing and the view.
The tile panels still face the terrace, one showing the siege that founded the city's Christian rule, the other a Lisbon the earthquake erased.
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