Church of Santa Cruz

Founded by Dr. Lourenço Mourão Homem, a native of Lamego. The first stone was blessed by Bishop D. António Teles de Menezes on September 14, 1596, the day of the Exaltation of the Cross. It was handed over to the Lóios priests or Canons of St. John the Evangelist and became the most important church in Lamego during the 18th century. The interior is covered in carved wood and tiles from the first half of the 18th century. These were entirely the arms of the transept and the two side chapels - that of the Holy Family and that of João Teixeira Carvalho. On the Gospel side, above the tomb of the Acre bailiwick Manuel Pinto da Fonseca, the inscription reads - year 1727-Lamego. On either side of the window are two episodes from the life of St. Benedict. The left wall, perpendicular to the previous one, depicts the foundation of Monte Cassino - the devil prevents the monks from carrying the stone. At the sign of the Cross made by St. Benedict, the stone became as light as a feather. On the Epistle side is the altar of St. Anthony. At the top of the transept is another granite tomb chest that houses the remains of the bishop of Angra, João de Brito de Vasconcelos. Above it are the episodes of the Preaching to the Fishes and the mule kneeling before the Sacred Custody. The side depicts the miracle that St. Anthony performed by raising a dead man to prove his father's innocence. The tiles are not signed, but the general line of the composition suggests that they belong to the Bernardos family. The carving of the altar of Nossa Senhora Da the Valley was done by the carver João de Oliveira in 1733.