Weathervane Wednesday - Estrela Basilica, Lisbon, Portugal

 This weathervane was photographed on the belltower at the Estrela Basicila in Lisbon, Portugal. 

This photo is crooked because I was taking a "fly by" photo from a tuk-tuk! 

There are two bell towers on the Estrela Basilica, and each has a weathervane shaped like a flaming sword.  The full name of this church is Real Basílica e Convento do Santíssimo Coração de Jesus or "The Royal Basilica and Convent of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. In Roman Catholic iconography, the sacred heart of Jesus is pierced by a flaming sword and surrounded by a crown of thorns. This was the first church in the world to be dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Devotion to the Sacred Heart began in the 17th century with St. Margaret Mary Alacoque.        

The story behind this building is that Queen Maria I of Portugal prayed to an image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus for children.  She vowed to build a church if her wish came true. She bore a crown prince in 1761, but did not begin the construction until she accended to the throne.  The building was started in 1779 and took over ten years to construct.  

 For the truly curious:

Estrela Basilica at Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estrela_Basilica    

Sacred Heart at Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacred_Heart    

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To cite/link to this blog post:  Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Weathervane Wednesday - Estrela Basilica, Lisbon, Portugal", Nutfield Genealogy, posted February 8, 2023, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2023/02/weathervane-wednesday-estrela-basilica.html: accessed [access date]).