Church of Sâo Domingos (1576) has its origins in the convent of Santa Cruz founded by the Dominican Friar Bartolomeu dos Mártires (1514-1590), once the archbishop of Braga.
Bartolomeu dos Mártires is a famous prelate who took part in the Council of Trent (1545-1563) that opposed the 'heresies' of the Protestant Reformation and his statue, riding a donkey, stands in the square outside the church. In 1582, he received papal permission to resign as archbishop and retire to the convent in Viana do Castelo, where he lived largely in solitude for the remainder of his life.
The church is laid out with a single nave and transept in the Latin Cross style with chapels leading off to the sides.
The highlight of the ornate interior is the gilded, carved altar of Our Lady of the Rosary by José Alvares de Araújo dating from the late 18th century. Notice the finely rendered shells, flowers and volutes in the design that is a wonderful example of Portuguese Rococo.
The large interior of the church has a high, wooden ceiling done in pastel shades. Azulejos tile work depicting various Biblical scenes decorate the walls. The church contains several other ornate altars and chapels leading off from the nave. Above the main entrance is the organ reached by a dark, wooden staircase.
References:Saint-Georges de Boscherville Abbey is a former Benedictine abbey. It was founded in about 1113 by Guillaume de Tancarville on the site of an earlier establishment of secular canons and settled by monks from the Abbey of Saint-Evroul. The abbey church made of Caumont stone was erected from 1113 to 1140. The Norman builders aimed to have very well-lit naves and they did this by means of tall, large windows, initially made possible by a wooden ceiling, which prevented uplift, although this was replaced by a Gothic vault in the 13th century. The chapter room was built after the abbey church and dates from the last quarter of the 12th century.
The arrival of the Maurist monks in 1659, after the disasters of the Wars of Religion, helped to get the abbey back on a firmer spiritual, architectural and economic footing. They erected a large monastic building one wing of which fitted tightly around the chapter house (which was otherwise left as it was).