Chapel of Nossa Senhora Dos Meninos

The Chapel of Nossa Senhora Dos Meninos was built in 1555 by order of Bishop Manuel de Noronha of Lamego. Its curious invocation is due to popular devotion, which attributed several miracles to the patron saint for saving children who were often swept away by the currents of the nearby Balsemão river. The chapel has a classical design, inspired by 16th century tratadística, and was possibly built by the masters working at the time in the Cathedral of Lamego, on the completion of the cloister. With a rectangular floor plan, the chapel consists of a single nave with a high choir and a chancel. The sacristy and bell tower were added to the left side façade. The main façade has a round-arched portal set in a portico, flanked by two mullioned windows, above which the founder's coat of arms has been placed. The wall is topped by a gable. The interior is covered by a coffered ceiling painted with scenes from the Life of Christ and the Virgin, and the walls are covered with patterned tiles made in the 17th and 18th centuries. The confraternity that oversaw the church at the end of the 17th century sponsored work on the chancel by the master António de Bastos. The gilded altarpiece was made by Francisco de Mesquita, a master carver from Porto, who also painted the coffered ceiling.