The Cathedral of Saint Mary Major

The Cathedral is currently a mix of different architectural styles including Romanesque (the first building) , Gothic (the 13th Century Cloister) , and Baroque (the 17th Century sacristy).

The first building, in Late Romanesque style, was completed between 1147 and the first decades of the 13th century. At that time, the relics of St Vincent of Saragossa, patron saint of Lisbon, were brought to the cathedral from Southern Portugal. In the late 13th century, King Dinis of Portugal built a Gothic cloister and his successor, Afonso IV of Portugal, had the main chapel converted into a royal pantheon in Gothic style for him and his family.

Earthquakes have always been a problem for Lisbon and its cathedral. There were several in the 14th and 16th centuries, but the worst of all was the 1755 Lisbon earthquake, which destroyed the Gothic main chapel along with the royal pantheon. The cloisters and many chapels were also ruined by the quake and the fire that followed. The cathedral was partially rebuilt and an extensive renovation in the early 20th century gave it its current appearance.

In recent years, the central courtyard of the cloister has been excavated and remains from the Roman, Arab and mediaeval periods have been found. Excavations started in the cloister in 1990 and revealed a Roman road with shops on either side, part of a Roman kitchen and a "cloaca" (sewage system), as well as traces of later Visigoth buildings. A very visible part of a Moorish building with red walls related to the former mosque that once stood on this site was also excavated.

The Cathedral of Saint Mary Major ( Santa Maria Maior de Lisboa or Metropolitan Cathedral of St. Mary Major), often called Lisbon Cathedral or simply the Sé (Sé de Lisboa), is a Roman Catholic cathedral located in Lisbon, Portugal. The oldest church in the city, initially built as a mosque, it is the seat of the Patriarchate of Lisbon. Built in 1147, the cathedral has survived many earthquakes and has been modified, renovated and restored several times.

The cathedral is in the shape of a Latin cross with three aisles, a transept and a main chapel surrounded by an ambulatory. The church is connected with a cloister on the eastern side. The main façade of the cathedral looks like a fortress, with two towers flanking the entrance and crenellations over the walls. This menacing appearance, also seen in other Portuguese cathedrals of the time, is a relic from the Reconquista period, when the cathedral may have been used as a base to attack the enemy during a siege.