Podcast
In this episode of ‘Stories of Lisbon’, journalist Miguel Franco de Andrade talks to archaeologist and bioanthropologist Lucy Shaw Evangelista about the excavation carried out in the former convent of São Domingos
The block between the back of Rossio, Praça da Figueira and Martim Moniz has gone through eight centuries of history, since the founding of the Dominican convent, in the middle of the 13th century. Many of the events that shaped the history of the capital took place here, such as the assembly that tried to convince the master of avis to take up the defense of Lisbon against the Castilian siege, in the midst of the crisis of 1383-85. At Easter 1506, the massacre of Jews and New Christians began here, leading to the slaughter of 2,000 people throughout the city.
It was from here that those condemned to be burned by the inquisition left for the fearsome acts of faith in Rossio or Terreiro do Paço. They married and were baptized kings, including the one who would become a victim of regicide, D. Carlos I, the beginning of the end of the monarchy. Well into the 20th century, the place became known for housing the famous warehouses of Braz & Braz, the home goods store, in the heart of Baixa Pombalina.
In the midst of so much turmoil, São Domingos kept a secret, however, revealed during the Covid 19 pandemic. In the works intended to transform the convent into another hotel, archaeologists came across an overwhelming number of human remains in the basement of the old cloister. At the end of the excavation, almost 3 thousand skeletons were unearthed, the overwhelming majority of which were premature babies or children under 3 years of age.
In this episode of ‘Stories of Lisbon’, journalist Miguel Franco de Andrade talks to archaeologist and bioanthropologist Lucy Shaw Evangelista about the mystery of dead from the convent of São Domingos.
Histórias de Lisboa is a weekly podcast by SIC journalist Miguel Franco de Andrade with sound design by Salomé Rita and generic by Nuno Rosa and Maria Antónia Mendes. The cover is by Tiago Pereira Santos on tiles from the kitchen of the City Museum – Palácio Pimenta.
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