Although Porto's finest example of Gothic architecture doesn't look terribly imposing from the street, wait until you get inside where the Baroque gilt wood work will blow even the most jet-lagged minds.
Especially the family tree of Jesus which demands to be enlarged in photos!
St. Francis's belted robe makes him easy to identify, although the relative lack of ornamentation here helps, too.
The altar was under repair.
An excellent museum of religious icons adjoins the church.
Notice the stigmata on this small statue of St. Francis. The early Franciscans in Porto weren't very popular with the bishop or his flock. They had to get a bull from Pope Innocent V, whose tenure lasted just five months, to reclaim the land on which the church was built in the early 13th century. But by the 18th century, Porto's aristocracy had fully embraced the order and funded the unforgettable interior.
Skulls adorned the tops of many prominent crypts.
A plastic window separated visitors from the macabre remains of the hoi polloi.
Upon exiting, I overheard a woman telling her companions that she didn't want to pay the 9 euro admission. "It's totally worth it," I muttered, although I might have resisted by the end of my visit to Portugal, too. The country has churches, lots of churches, but you always remember your first better than the others.
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