Viseu Cathedral (Sé de Viseu)

The Sé de Viseu is the ancient heart of the city, a Romanesque cathedral founded in the 12th century on a hill above the old town. The exterior is relatively plain — granite, sober, Portuguese — but step inside and the Manueline vaulting of the nave stops you in your tracks: elaborate stone ribs twist above the nave in a pattern of ropes and maritime symbols that seems almost organic.

The cathedral treasury holds a good collection of ecclesiastical objects, and the Gothic cloister is quiet and handsome. The cathedral sits at the top of the Adro da Sé, the city's most elegant square, flanked by the Misericórdia church and the Grão Vasco Museum. The square itself is worth sitting in, especially in the evening when the granite glows warm in the low light.

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A story
The cathedral's Manueline vaulting — a riot of twisted stone ropes, coral branches, and armillary spheres — was added in the 16th century and is now considered one of the finest examples of the style outside the Jerónimos Monastery in Lisbon. Uniquely, it was designed and built by two brothers, Miguel and João de Castilho, who worked simultaneously on the nave and the chancel without ever meeting to coordinate their designs.

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