Recreation of Lisbon Cathedral of the 16th century by Alfredo Roque Gameiro (1864–1935) according to existing 16th c. paintings

Lisbon has been the seat of a bishopric since the 4th century (see Patriarch of Lisbon). After the period of Visigothic domination the city was conquered by the Moors and stayed under Arab control from the 8th to the 12th century, although Christians were allowed to live in Lisbon and its surroundings. In the year 1147, the city was reconquered by an army composed of Portuguese soldiers led by King Afonso Henriques and North European crusaders taking part on the Second Crusade (see Siege of Lisbon). An English crusader named Gilbert of Hastings was placed as bishop, and a new cathedral was built on the site of the main mosque of Lisbon.

 View of the Romanesque lateral aisle of the Lisbon Cathedral. View into the nave.

This first building was completed between 1147 and the first decades of the 13th century in Late Romanesque style. At that time the relics of St Vincent of Saragossa, patron saint of Lisbon, were brought to the cathedral from Southern Portugal. In the end of the 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. In 1498, Queen Eleanor of Viseu founded the Irmandade de Invocação a Nossa Senhora da Misericórdia de Lisboa (Brotherhood of Invocation to Our Lady of Mercy of Lisbon ) in one of the chapels of the cloister of the cathedral.[1] This brotherhood evolved into the Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa, a Catholic charitable institution that later spread to other cities and had a very important role in Portugal and its colonies.

During the Portuguese interregnum of 1383–85, the populace suspected that Bishop Dom Martinho Annes was plotting with the Castilians and an angry crowd threw him out of the window of the northern tower[2]

 Gothic vault of the ambulatory and clerestory windows.

Earthquakes have always been a problem for Lisbon and its cathedral. During the 14th and 16th centuries there were several of them, 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, in the beginning of the 20th century, was given the appearance that it has today after a profound renovation.

 Archaeological excavations in Cathedral cloisters

In recent years the central courtyard of the cloister has been excavated and shows signs of the Roman, Arab and mediaeval periods. Excavations started in Cathedral Cloister in 1990. They have revealed a Roman road with shops on either site. A part of a Roman kitchen and a "cloaca" (sewage system). and 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.[3]

In 2020, remains of an Almoravid complex, which researchers suggest is a mosque, were uncovered. Graça Fonseca, the Portuguese Minister of Culture, determined that the Muslim remains should be kept in place.[4][5]