This church began as the home of a maritime brotherhood, not as Massarelos’s parish church. Construction started in 1776, and it took on parish duties only when Santa Maria da Boa Viagem, the district’s earlier church, had deteriorated into ruin. The brotherhood based here reached much further back: it was founded in 1394 by seafarers who had survived a storm on their return from England.
It supported sailors and merchants, while also operating in trade and finance. Its own vessels served the institution and could be called on to defend the coast against pirates. As you stand still on the pavement, take in the tiled front.
The doorway incorporates a niche for Saint Peter González Telmo, known here as São Telmo, the church’s patron. A very large central window gives the façade its main emphasis, while the bell towers carry clocks and a stone cross finishes the composition. Inside is a single, comparatively restrained space.
On the river-facing rear, the Cross of the Order of Christ and a tile panel showing Infante Dom Henrique preserve a local tradition that he belonged to this old brotherhood. The brotherhood still has its headquarters here, and its treasury includes silverwork and a handsome sixteenth-century monstrance.
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