Igreja dos Grilos

The Church and College of São Lourenço, popularly known as Grilo’s Church, began to be built in 1577 by the Jesuits, in a Baroque-Jesuitic Mannerist style. For its construction were decisive the donations of the faithful, as well as of Frei Luís Álvaro de Távora, from which you can see the coat of arms on the facade.

In spite of the many setbacks and oppositions in its construction, the followers of Santo Inácio de Loyola ended up being able to found the college in which gratuitous classes were taught.

In 1759, by order of the Marquês de Pombal, the company was suppressed and its brothers were expelled, reintegrated into different secular orders, or punished throughout the country, and the monastery was donated to another order that was hosted there until 1832.

The Barefoot Friars of Santo Agostinho who, having previously been based at the site of the Grilo in Lisbon and nicknamed "Frades-Grilo", gave the name to this church.

During the liberal wars, in the Cerco do Porto, the friars were forced to leave the church, which served to house D. Pedro's academic battalion, which included the Portuguese writer Almeida Garrett.

Today the building has a new life, housing the museum of sacred art and archeology.