Signinum has begun the conservation and restoration of the altar of Our Lady of the Rosary at the Igreja de Santa Cruz do Casteloin Lisbon's Castelo neighbourhood.

This first stage will involve mapping - in order to analyse all the pathologies - vacuuming the altar, prefixing the polychromy and removing all the elements that have no function.

The restoration will be done live, so all visitors can watch our work up close. Here's a suggestion to include in your family day out or holiday itinerary.

If you would like to contribute to safeguarding the heritage of the Church of Santa Cruz, you can find out how by following this link: https://igrejadocastelo.pt/apoie-nos/.

The Church of Santa Cruz is an 18th century building, occupying the site of the original temple built in the 12th century, where there was an old mosque. It has a considerable religious, artistic and cultural collection and holds the oldest parish registers in the city. The first marriage record dates back to 26th of September of 1536.

Everything indicates that it was a Moorish mosque which, after the conquest of Lisbon on 25th October 1147, was purified and consecrated by the Archbishop of Braga, João Peculiar. This consecration took place on 1st of November of the same year, for the royal procession led by King Afonso Henriques to enter, along with a relic of the Holy Cross, which is now on permanent exhibition inside the church.

The second part of the project to restore the heritage of the Church of Santa Cruz has already begun. To raise donations, initiatives linked to education, art and culture will be promoted, involving residents of the neighbourhood, partner organisations and tourists. In addition to the live restorations, there are plans to launch a medronho and cardamom craft beer and a lavender biscuit, as well as exhibitions and interpretative tours.