The church was part of the Jesuit College until they were expelled from Portugal in 1759. The building started in 1598, but the church was only consecrated in 1640.
The facade shows two distinct phases of design and construction. The interior of the temple is in the Latin cross-plan; it has semi-circular vaulting, with a cupola over the transept and pulpits almost in the centre of the church, a design which is typical of the counter-reformation artistic style.
Reliquaries are being restored