Church of the Holy Family
The construction has an octagonal floor plan drawn around an interior garden.
As a matter of curiosity, the exact central location of the entire construction is the church's tabernacle. Another symbolical detail of great importance is that the Seminary is the "heart of the Diocese" and this "heart" contains the Tabernacle, a house of worship where the Eucharist is performed.
The pipe organ designed and created by the Spanish artist João Fontana de Maquera in 1762 stands out. It is an Iberian pipe organ containing 1,500 pipes.
The Four Great Doctors of the Western Church, Saint Augustine, Pope Gregory I, Saint Jerome, and Saint Ambrose, are represented in the wooden sculptures on the side walls.
In the two side-altars you can see two life-size statues of Nossa Senhora da Conceição and St. Joseph. They were both sculpted by the Neapolitan sculptor Januário Vassalo in Naples in 1756, but were only sent to Coimbra on August 19th, 1777. The relics of St. Liberato and St. Fortunato are located below the altar, while the relics of St. Frutuoso are in the altar of celebration.
The Main Altar holds a magnificent painting by an unknown author featuring a biblical event: the meeting in the Temple between the Christ Child and his parents, Mary and Joseph, with the Four Doctors.
The dome was painted by the famous Italian painter Pascoal Parente. The fresco of the dome, painted in 1760, represents the Coronation and the Assumption of the Virgin, along with angels and saints.
The studies that preceded this oil painting can be seen in the Sacristy, a room in the church that kept its original precious wood furniture and is still used today.
