The original Monastery of São Vicente de Fora was founded around 1147 by the first Portuguese King, Afonso Henriques, for the Augustinian Order.

[1] Built in Romanesque style outside the city walls, it was one of the most important monastic foundations in medieval Portugal.

The author of the design of the church is thought to be the Italian Jesuit Filippo Terzi and/or the Spaniard Juan de Herrera.

The façade, attributed to Baltazar Álvares, has several niches with statues of saints and is flanked by two towers (a model that would become widespread in Portugal).

The floorplan of the church reveals a Latin cross building with a one-aisled nave with lateral chapels.

[2] The beautiful main altarpiece is a Baroque work of the 18th century by one of the best Portuguese sculptors, Joaquim Machado de Castro.

Inside, the entrance is decorated with blue-white, 18th century tiles that tell the history of the Monastery, including scenes of the Siege of Lisbon in 1147.