Church of São Roque

You are standing before a church that holds Europe's most expensive chapel, a masterpiece that was built in Rome and sailed across the ocean in pieces. This is the Church of São Roque in Bairro Alto. Its story began in 1505 during a plague epidemic. The area outside the city walls became a burial ground for victims, and a simple shrine was built here to house a relic of Saint Roch, the patron saint who protected people from disease.

Everything changed in 1553 when the Jesuits took over the site and built their main Portuguese church, completed in 1573. But the true wonder came later. In 1742, King João V commissioned the Chapel of St. John the Baptist, designed by the same architects who created Rome's Trevi Fountain. They constructed it entirely in Rome using lapis lazuli, gold, ivory, and rare marbles.

Pope Benedict XIV himself consecrated it in 1744. Three ships transported the disassembled chapel here in 1747. Craftsmen reassembled every precious piece inside this church. The project was funded by gold from Brazil and became known as Europe's most expensive chapel. When the catastrophic 1755 earthquake destroyed most of the city, São Roque survived almost untouched.