Another of the important churches of Lisbon is that of Saint Anthony (Igreja de Santo António de Lisboa) which is dedicated to Saint Anthony of Lisbon, better known throughout the Christian world as Saint Anthony of Padua. According to tradition, the church was built in the place where the saint was born, in 1195.
History relates that Fernando de Bulhões, Saint Anthony, was born in Lisbon in 1195, the son of a wealthy family. In 1220, while studying in Coimbra, he entered the Franciscan Order, adopting the name of Antonio. His missionary trips would take him to Italy, where he settled in Padua. Due to his immense popularity, he was canonized less than a year after his death, in 1232.
The site of the family home where Fernando was born, located very close to the Lisbon Cathedral, was turned into a small chapel in the 15th century. This early building, of which nothing remains, was rebuilt in the 16th century, during the reign of King Manuel I.
In 1730, under the reign of John V, the church was rebuilt and redecorated. In the Lisbon earthquake of 1755 the Santo António church was destroyed, and only the main chapel still stood. It was completely rebuilt after 1767 to a Baroque-Rococo design by the architect Mateus Vicente de Oliveira. This is the church that can be visited today.
Since 1755 a procession leaves the church every June 13, passes the Lisbon Cathedral and passes through the slopes of the Alfama neighborhood, in the vicinity.
It should be noted that on May 12, 1982, Pope John Paul II visited the church. Then a statue of Saint Anthony (by sculptor Soares Branco) was inaugurated in the square in front of the church and prayed in the crypt, which marks the place where the saint was born.
