For a lovely tranquil stroll, head to the light-dappled public gardens (with a small outdoor cafe) south of the Igreja de São Francisco. Inside the walls of the 15th-century Palácio de Dom Manuel is the Galeria das Damas , an indecisive hybrid of Gothic, Manueline, neo-Moorish and Renaissance styles. It’s open when there are (frequent) temporary art exhibitions.
From the town walls you can see, a few blocks to the southeast, the crenellated, pointy-topped Arabian Gothic profile of the Ermida de São Brás (Chapel of St Blaise), dating from about 1490. It’s possibly an early project of Diogo de Boitaca, considered the originator of the Manueline style.
