Saint Lawrence Church

This guide to Saint Lawrence Church in Porto explains why locals call it the Crickets rather than by its real name, starting with the Jesuits who built it in 1577 against fierce local opposition and gave it a deliberately bare facade. It follows the church through the Jesuits' expulsion in 1759, the friars who replaced them and inspired its nickname, and the 1830s siege of Porto, when soldiers including the writer Almeida Garrett bunked inside its walls. Listen for what that plain exterior is hiding once you step through the door.