Erected between the end of the 12th and the beginning of the 13th century, it is one of the city's great Romanesque monuments.The temple works were started before the year 957, as evidenced by a document where it is donated to the Lorvão Monastery. It was rebuilt in the last decades of the 12th century, on an unknown date, during the reign of Sancho I of Portugal. Its consecration took place in 1206, but the works are believed to have lasted for several more years. At least two construction campaigns, in Romanesque style, were carried out at that time.
Photo 1 - After the intervention of Mercy in https://fotos.web.sapo.io/i/B250682d9/21102820_KCcv5.jpeg
Detail of the south portal
On the outside of the church, the main and south side portals stand out, works of great value for understanding the Coimbra Romanesque. The main portal, with four archivolts, seems later and counted with the participation of artists of high artistic capacity together with others of lesser talent. The capitals here contain various motifs, both vegetal and animal, some derived from the Sé Velha cathedral of Coimbra, such as the motif of birds facing each other. The columns of the main doorway are also profusely decorated with geometric spiral reliefs and vegetal motifs. The elegant south doorway probably belongs to the late 12th century, and is composed of several archivolts without decoration, surrounded by a vine-shaped frame, and capitals and columns with vegetal motifs.
The interior of the church has three naves and three chapels at the head. In the 15th century a quadrangular-plan chapel was added to the north side of the church, with a gothic-style portal and an interesting decorated alfiz.
Although it has undergone several modifications over the centuries, the most radical intervention took place in the 16th century, when a second church was built on top of the primitive church, to serve as the town's Church of Mercy (see Photo 1). This addition, built in the 1540s, was removed in the restoration works of the first half of the 20th century.(see photo 2)
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Photo 2 - Church of S. Tiago after the reform in the first half of the 20th century.
But this church was doomed. An important mutilation of the church occurred in 1861, when the previous street of Coruche (today Visconde da Luz) was enlarged. In that work a great part of the south apse and main chapel was lost. (see photo 3)
Photo 3- In : http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RyOy7mCwsug/U2lBb64c1qI/AAAAAAAAXjg/7Ca87lX5JXY/s1600/SAM_1814.JPG
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