Capela dos Alfaiates, Porto

Capela dos Alfaiates belongs to Porto’s tailors’ brotherhood, whose protectors were Bom Homem and Nossa Senhora de Agosto. In 1554, the brotherhood began a new chapel opposite Porto Cathedral’s main front, in a building granted by Bishop Rodrigo Pinheiro. Eleven years later, only its walls had been raised, before the master mason Manuel Luís took on the work of completing it.

This is a Renaissance chapel. Its particular importance lies in marking northern Portugal’s shift from late Gothic construction toward Flemish-inspired Mannerism. Notice the entrance: fluted Corinthian columns frame the portal, while a Flemish-decorated niche designed by Manuel Luís holds a terracotta image of Nossa Senhora de Agosto.

Within, the lofty nave vault retains late-Gothic ribs but introduces Mannerist decoration. The chapel has also travelled. Porto’s council expropriated it in 1935 for planned alterations around the cathedral square, and it was reconstructed here in 1953, between Rua do Sol and Rua de São Luís. It has been a National Monument since 1927.