A personal selection of photographs with their stories.
017: Santuário de Santa Luzia
A tough climb of 660 steps leads to the Saint Lucia Sanctuary, a remarkable monument in Viana do Castelo. The sanctuary, dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, appears to be built many centuries ago, but the truth is that the project dates back from 1899, by Miguel Ventura Terra. It was captain Luís de Andrade e Sousa who had prayed at the Santa Lucia chapel for healing his severe eye problem. As a gratitude he frequented, as a hermit, the chapel, and ordered the construction of a road to the top of the little chapel. Construction of the sanctuary was started in 1904, and completed in 1959. It has striking similarities with Sacre-Coeur in Paris; it was inspired by Byzantine architecture, with few gothic and romantic elements. From the top of the sanctuary, one of the most splendid views in the world can be witnessed: the Lima River in the east, the city of Viana in the south, and the rugged coastline and Atlantic Ocean in the west.
© Adriano Antoine Robbesom 1999, 2001, 2003, 2017
Adriano Antoine 