Resplendent on a high rock is the 13th-century granite cathedral, whose gloomy Renaissance facade conceals a splendid 16th-century interior, including an impressive Manueline ceiling.
Panoramas of Viseu’s historic centre are available from the upper gallery of the adjacent cloister. The lower level, handsome with tiles, Ionic columns, tombstone fragments and round arches, is one of Portugal’s earliest Italian Renaissance structures. Note the amazing Romanesque-Gothic portal on one corner, rediscovered during restoration work in 1918.
Stairs in the northern transept of the cathedral climb to the Museu de Arte Sacra . The museum itself is a lacklustre assemblage of vestments and religious paraphernalia, but its lofty setting offers a nice perspective on the church’s architecture.
Facing the cathedral is the 1775 Igreja da Misericórdia , whose bright rococo exterior contrasts markedly with its neoclassical, severe and rather dull interior, which contains another museum and a treasury.
