The Church of Nossa Senhora da Lapa is a Baroque church completed in 1767 to plans by André Soares, the architect who defined the distinctive Minho Baroque style. The undulating facade, with its deeply carved stone decoration and dynamically curved surfaces, is characteristic of Soares's work — a regional variation on Baroque that feels almost playful compared to the more formal Portuguese Baroque of Lisbon.
André Soares worked almost exclusively in the Minho and Braga region, and Nossa Senhora da Lapa is considered among his best surviving works. If you are traveling north from Braga and have already seen his facade of the Palácio do Raio in Braga, the family resemblance is unmistakable. The church interior is more restrained than the facade suggests, with gilded altarpieces and painted tiles lining the nave.