Designed by Master Mateus Fernandes, one of the architects responsible for the ‘imperfect chapels’ of the Monastery of Batalha, the church dates from the early 16th century and is notable for the fact that its chancel was built over one of the thermal springs.
The church has a single nave covered by a craftsman’s vault. The chancel, with a ribbed vault, is separated by a polycentric triumphal arch, imitating drapery effects, surmounted by a royal coat of arms and a 16th-century triptych on wood depicting episodes from the Passion of Christ.
It features a marble altarpiece with classical columns, two sculptures of the Annunciation, and access to the sacristy (crowned externally by the bell tower with twin arches topped by a clock), via a richly decorated door.
As for the walls, both of the nave and the chancel are entirely covered with 17th-century tile panels featuring a yellow and blue geometric pattern, in contrast to the 16th-century tile fronts of the gilded wood altarpieces on the side altars.
Also worthy of note inside is the octagonal baptismal font, shaped like a chalice and profusely carved with openwork, attributed to the sculptors of the font at the Old Cathedral of Coimbra.
Although small in size, the Church of Nossa Senhora do Pópulo is remarkable for the combination of styles it encompasses, being cited as one of the earliest buildings to display traces of the Manueline style and for the richness of detail, both inside and out.
However, a significant portion of the church’s treasures, particularly its silverware, was handed over to the “Casa da Moeda” in 1808, until, in 1853, a massive fire engulfed the hospital area and the church itself, forcing its temporary closure—a situation that would be aggravated just five years later by an earthquake.
The significance attributed to it by 19th-century Portuguese aesthetes and researchers was formalised in 1910, with its inclusion in the first list of historic buildings to be classified as National Monuments.
