The Igreja Matriz de São Sebastião (the Mother Church of Saint Sebastian) on Terceira Island is one of the most historically significant religious buildings in the Azores, dating back to 1455.
About This Site
The Igreja Matriz de São Sebastião (the Mother Church of Saint Sebastian) on Terceira Island is one of the most historically significant religious buildings in the Azores, with its foundation dating back to the mid-15th century (around 1455) during the initial settlement of the island. Originally established by some of the island’s first residents, the church evolved from a primitive chapel into a grand three-nave structure that showcases a rare fusion of architectural styles, most notably the late-Gothic Manueline style visible in its ornate portals. Throughout the centuries, it served as a spiritual fortress for the community, surviving seismic activity and undergoing various renovations that added Baroque altars and Manueline-era frescoes, which were rediscovered during a 20th-century restoration. Today, it stands as a National Monument, prized for its unique "Indo-Portuguese" influence and its status as a testament to the early maritime expansion and religious devotion of the Portuguese explorers.
The church is modeled on Santa Maria do Olival in Tomar, through its sturdy three-nave structure and its tripartite head with a central main chapel. This architectural link was established because the Order of Christ in Tomar held spiritual authority over the Azores, leading early builders to replicate the Order's headquarters as a symbol of religious continuity.
Connection to Oak Island
The chapel carries nine three-pronged goose paw carvings, arranged in three groups of three, with original red pigment still visible. The three-pronged goose paw is a Templar pilgrimage mark used across medieval Europe and the Middle East, and appears at a carving in Liverpool, Nova Scotia, roughly 50 miles from Oak Island. It is also present at the Camerano Caves in Italy, a 12th-century Templar stronghold whose cross-shaped plan matches the design of the lead cross recovered on Oak Island in 2017. The chapel's nine paws place the same Templar-successor iconography on Terceira, on the Atlantic route between mainland Portugal and the Nova Scotia coast.
Fieldwork Notes
Visited in S13E23 (April 2026) by Rick Lagina, Alex Lagina, Doug Crowell, Peter Fornetti, Corjan Mol, and Emiliano Aversano, in the company of historians Francisco Nogueira and Manuel. The group documented the nine goose paw carvings at three corners of the chapel interior, confirmed the retained red pigment on each group, and discussed the chapel's construction under the Order of Christ against the possibility of Portuguese activity on Terceira before its official claim by Prince Henry the Navigator in 1427.
