- Small chapel in Lisbon dedicated to Santa Maria da Escada (Our Lady of the Stairway, or Saint Mary of the Stairway). It derives from an ear;ier chapel dedicated to Santa Maria da Corredoura (corredoure being a placename), founded possibly during the reign of King Afonso Henriques, 12th century, but certainly already standing by the reign of Afonso III of Portugal.
- In the reign of King Fernando, the chapel was reconstructed by Pedro Afonso Mealha, and joined to the Church of São Domingos. From then on there are references to Santa Maria da Escada, either the altar or a chapel situated in or adjacent to the Monastery of São Domingos. [See Rocha Souto in Bibliography below, p.179]
- It became a main center of pilgrimage, especially by the Constable Nuno Álvares Pereira and the future João I of Portugal.
- One assumes that the unusual name of Our Lady of the Stairway, may have been influenced by the altar of Santa Maria Scala Coeli (Saint Mary of the Stairway to Heaven), in the abbey of Tre Fontane, in Rome, a center of pilgrimage. Scala Coeli (Stairway to Heaven) was an indulgence gained by people who prayed at specific places and churches, counting as a step toward heaven. Santa Maria da Escada in Lisbon may have been one of those places of prayer.
- BIBLIOGRAPHY: Rocha Souto, 'Na Igreja de S. Domingos, de Lisboa, nem tudo se perdeu: Salva-se a Imagem de Nossa Senhora da Escada', in Olisipo, Year 22, no. 88 (October, 1957), pp. 226-236.
Chronicle entries in which Santa Maria da Escada (church) appears:
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