Dating from the 12th century, the Igreja de São Leonardo, in the old town of Atouguia da Baleia, is the oldest Christian church in the municipality of Peniche. According to tradition, this Gothic church dedicated to St. Leonard was built from the bones of a whale that was washed ashore by the ocean.
The front of the church has a beautiful Gothic door surmounted by capitals with stylistic representations of mythological beings. The interior is divided into a central nave and two side aisles by an imposing series of pointed arches.
The chancel is filled with altarpieces and 16th-century paintings, and also contains the tomb of Dom Álvaro Gonçalves de Ataíde, the first Count of Atouguia. Attention is drawn to the superb altar front comprising a white limestone low-relief carving depicting the "Nativity Scene". |