Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Póvoa de Varzim

[1] Construction began in 1890 and by 1900 the original plan by chaplain Priest Ferreira, drawing professor in the Espirito Santo College in Braga, was revealed.

[2] However, the details of the basilica's facade, in Neoclassical style, differs from the original plan and, due to its history, has eclectic elements.

João Francisco Trocado, secretary of Apostolado de Oração League, acquired an icon of the Heart of Jesus blessed by cardinal D. Américo in 1888 in Porto and by that the idea to build a worthy temple, a basilica, for the sculpture, appeared.

For them the influence of the Jesuits and the Dorotean sisters, who governed the feminine Sagrado Coração de Jesus College, harmed socialist and republican ideology.

[2] The town hall administrator, Domingos José Moreira in a telegram from March, 11th 1901 says that "Yesterday night a numerous group of people went throw the streets with an uncivil attitude, justifying it as an anti-Jesuit protest.

[3] After the May 28th 1926 Revolution, the construction of the basilica resumed in 1927 with the return of the Jesuits,[2] and concluded on October 31, 1948 during the Estado Novo regime.

However, the façade differs substantially and has a neoclassical style with Baroque-inspired cornices, and the towers recall Romanesque solutions.