Our History

The genesis of the Venerable Brotherhood of Our Lady of Lapa goes back to one person, Father Ângelo Sequeira, a Brazilian priest, born in São Paulo, who in his book “Botica Preciosa e Thesouro Precioso da Lapa”, confessed that he wanted to “find all the remedies, to the body, for the soul and for life”. His devotion, combined with his skill of well speaking, managed to spread the cult of our Lady of Lapa throughout the north of the country and Galicia.

On December 30th, 1754, the Gremalde Mount was conceded to Father Ângelo Sequeira. According to chronicles of the time, Gremalde was a sparsely inhabited and hostile place, for merchants and pilgrims to pass through. Robberies were very frequent here. It was on this land that, on January 7th, 1755, the construction began on the Chapel of Our Lady of Lapa of the Confessions, so known because the priest slept there and heard the confessions of the people who committed robberies and wanted to express their regret.

On the 17th of July, the first stone of the Lapa Church was laid, whose main architect was José de Figueiredo Seixas. This construction lasted more than 100 years (1756-1863) mainly due to the lack of resources.

No longer existing at the present time, the Brotherhood of Lapa once had a school. With royal approval for the founding of a Seminar in 1792, it was in early April of 1800 that the first students enrolled.

On the eve of his death, on September 23rd, 1834, the monarch declared that he wanted to entrust his heart to the “heroic city of Porto, theater of my true glory...”. His daughter Mary II chose the Brotherhood of Lapa, as the faithful depository of the most noble king’s heart because, during the Siege of Porto period, it was in the Lapa Church that King Peter found recollection and attended the weekly military masses.

Built as a response to the cholera epidemic that killed many Porto residents in 1833, the Lapa Cemetery was a long-desired wish by the Brotherhood for a noble burial of its Brothers. Authorized by King Peter IV, and prior to the public cemeteries law of 1835, it received its official blessing in the summer of 1838.

On the 18th of August, the first stone was laid, fulfilling an old dream of the Brotherhood's founder. The construction of the main building was financed by the distinguished D. Luzia Joaquina Bruce in honor of her late husband. In 1948 a second phase of construction took place, with the goal of expanding the hospital and concluding the construction of the unfinished parts. This was possible due to the generosity of the benefactress Countess of São Tiago de Lobão, who financed the construction.

It was in this year that the Brotherhood acquired the monumental pipe organ that is still used today, one of the biggest and most beautiful in the entire Iberian Peninsula. Weighing around 32 tons, and being 15 meters tall, it has 4 keyboards and over 4300 tubes. Nowadays, the pipe organ is a fundamental piece in the realization of the concerts promoted by the Brotherhood.