The church of Saint Ildefonso is located near Batalha Square in Porto. Previously, on the site of the church of Saint Ildefonso was a chapel, built in the 13th century. The chapel was dedicated to Saint Aliphon and was also a place of worship for parishioners.

In 1709, the chapel was almost destroyed. It was demolished and construction of a new church, which had been under construction for about 30 years, began the same year. The first stage of the construction was completed in 1730, when the main part of the church of Saint Ildefonso in Porto and the timbale were completed. The construction of the church was completed in 1739. Two bell towers on the sides and the front facade were completed.

The church of Saint Ildefonso de Porto was built in Baroque style. The facade of the church, covered with Azulejos tiles, is impressive and inside the temple, visitors can see luxurious decorations. The tiles represent scenes from the life of Saint Ildefonso, as well as images of the Gospel.

More than 11,000 tiles were used to cover the walls and the drawing was made by the Portuguese artist Georges Colas, known for his Azulejos tiles. The work was designed by the famous Italian architect Nicolao Nasoni, who had a very rich imagination and also built many other interesting buildings in Portugal.

After the hurricane of 1819, the church was rebuilt. And when the city of Porto was besieged in 1833, the church was considerably damaged by artillery fire. In 1967, restoration work was carried out. They also made it possible to replace the stained glass windows.

Visit Porto