Igreja de Santa Maria
Mother Church, located in the square of the same name, is the main temple of Óbidos. Although tradition goes back to its foundation in the Visigoth period, transformed into a mosque in the Muslim period and again consecrated by D. Afonso Henriques shortly after the conquest of the town in 1148, the fact that it is located outside the original walled fence seems to contradict this hypothesis. Not knowing the exact date of foundation, it is a fact that the priory of the new church was given to S. Teotónio, companion of D. Afonso Henriques, a great figure of the Church and prior of the powerful Monastery of Santa Cruz de Coimbra, which had the patronage of the Church of Santa Maria until D. João III donated it to his wife, Queen D. Catarina of Austria. It was also the seat of a collegiate (community formed by prior and eight beneficiaries), suppressed by liberal legislation in the mid-nineteenth century.
The medieval temple was profoundly renovated by Queen D. Leonor at the end of the 15th century, with the works dragging on through the first quarter of the 16th century. The bell tower, attached to the façade and covered by an octagonal pyramidal spire, dates from this campaign.
Certainly hit by the earthquake of 1535, around 1570 it threatened ruin, so its complete reconstruction was immediately thought of. Thus, on August 15, 1571, the day of the Assumption of Our Lady, the first stone of the new church was laid, with a procession and a large religious apparatus, continuing the works under the protection of Queen D. Catarina and Prior D. Rodrigo Sanches, Spanish clergyman, chief almoner of the Queen and figure of great prestige in the court of Carlos V. This campaign results in its current configuration, with probable design by the royal architect António Rodrigues (Pedro Flor, 2002). About a century later, it undergoes new improvement works, on the initiative of Prior Doutor Francisco de Azevedo Caminha, who redecorates the church through an artistic program in the Baroque taste – ceiling, tiles and canvases in the naves.

Capela de São Martinho

Family funerary chapel, located opposite the Church of São Pedro. It was established in 1331 by Father Pêro Fernandes, who benefited from the Lisbon Cathedral. On the front, topped by corbels, there is an ogival portico with three archivolts resting on columns with vegetal capitals and surmounted by a Gothic inscription. Inside, covered by a ribbed vault, there are three tombs in ogival arcosoliums, one of which features a carved sword. Outside, there are still two medieval tombs, the one on the right with five coats of arms.



Igreja da Misericórdia

Former Chapel of the Holy Spirit, here was founded by Queen D. Leonor the Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Óbidos, according to tradition, still in 1498. the most important, at least inside, was carried out in the second decade of the 17th century by the Provedor da Misericórdia and Prior of São Pedro, João Vieira Tinoco.
Outside, the doorway stands out with its bold composition, topped by a niche with an image of the Virgin and Child in glazed and painted ceramics, probably produced in Lisbon between 1665 and 1680 (José Meco, 1998). The wooden doors are dated 1623.
The interior, with a single nave, is entirely lined with standard blue and yellow tiles (c.1625-30). Noteworthy is the important set of Mannerist carvings formed by the stalls/tribune of the poll workers and by the altarpieces. The altarpiece in the chancel, the work of the carver Manuel das Neves under the risk of João da Costa, features two large paintings by André Reinoso – the Visitation of the Virgin to Santa Isabel and the Pentecost, from around 1628-1630. The collaterals, also by the carver Manuel das Neves, from 1626, gilded by Belchior de Matos who had painted the panel from the Invention of the Holy Cross to the one of the Gospel, now at the Municipal Museum, now house the images of Senhor dos Passos and Nossa Senhora das Dores, both made of “roca”, topped by paintings also by André Reinoso – Christ on the way to Calvary and the Descension from the Cross. In the mid-18th century, the church was renovated once more, as attested by the date 1744 on the façade, from which the royal coat of arms surmounting the church’s portal, another one surmounting the triumphal arch, the painting over the same arch. , the two side cabinets of the chancel and the nave’s ceiling, with the royal coat of arms in the centre. Also noteworthy is the carved stone pulpit, with the date 1596, decorated with cartouches and volutes that bears a curious urn at the base for collecting offerings, and the 17th-century armored tombstone of the Countess of Knights, D. Luísa Guerra. Of its imagery, the magnificent Crucified Christ of probable Spanish origin (17th century) and the images of the Virgin and Child, Saint Anthony and Saint Joseph, all in the main chapel, stand out.
On display in the church, you can also admire the old flag of the Santa Casa da Misericórdia, painted by Diogo Teixeira in 1592, which seems to represent the features of D. António, Prior of Crato in the figure of the king (Sérgio Gorjão, 2000).
Attached to this church is the former Hospital da Misericórdia, with a Session Room with a rich baroque decoration.

Ermida de Nossa Senhora de Monserrate (Ordem Terceira)

Located in Arrabalde, it is a small temple with a Baroque portal, surmounted by Franciscan coats of arms. The interior, with a single nave and chancel covered by a dome, stands out for its tile covering from the first half of the 17th century. On the side walls, blue and white checkered tiles are located at the bottom and, at the top, a composition with blue and yellow tiles. The tiles that surround the triumphal arch and those that cover the chancel have a polychrome pattern. The altarpiece, painted by Belchior de Matos (c. 1600) depicts Saint John on Patmos and other saints linked to the Franciscan order.

Santuário do Senhor Jesus da Pedra

Outside the village, on the road to Caldas da Rainha, stands the Senhor da Pedra Sanctuary, a temple inaugurated in 1747. Captain Rodrigo Franco (from Patriarchal Mitra) and has the particularity of articulating a cylindrical volume (exterior) with a hexagonal polygon (interior), in a centered plan to which three bodies are attached (two corresponding to the towers and another corresponding to the sacristy). In his symmetry program, the game of inverted windows stands out. Its interior has three chapels: the chancel dedicated to Calvary, with a canvas by André Gonçalves, and the side chapels dedicated to Nossa Senhora da Conceição and the Death of São José, with canvases by José da Costa Negreiros. Until the inauguration of the Sanctuary, the “strange” stone image of Christ Crucified, on its own contraption, was collected in a small chapel next to the road to Caldas da Rainha, where it was the object of great devotion, namely by King D. João V .

Igreja de São Pedro

Founded in Medieval times, from its initial construction it only preserves the remains of the old Gothic portal on the façade. It was renovated in the second half of the 16th century, like other churches in the village, of which the classicizing main portal, the baptismal chapel at the entrance on the Gospel side, covered by a small reticulated dome resting on shell-shaped horns, and the helical staircase of the tower bell. Badly affected by the 1755 earthquake, its interior, with a single nave, stands out for its magnificent baroque altarpiece in gilded woodwork from the Johannine period. The old painting on the tribune of the altarpiece – St. Peter receiving the keys to Heaven from Christ – from the late 17th or early 18th century (Sérgio Gorjão, 2000), is currently on the wall on the Epistle side. In this church, the painter Josefa de Óbidos (1630-1684) and Father Francisco Rafael da Silveira Malhão (1794-1860) were buried, the latter with an evocative tombstone in the chancel.