At the entrance door of the Chapel, if you look upwards, just above your head you will see a painting of a sleeping man, with an alligator waiting to attack him. This has to do with a legend, which tradition has it that a pilgrim, on the road to the shrine of Our Lady of Penha de França in Lisbon, stopped by the way and fell into a deep sleep of exhaustion. Whilst he slept, a fearsome reptile was about to devour him, when Our Lady, surrounded by an aura of light, appeared upon the hilltop and awakened the pilgrim, warning him of the danger.
The beast was slain, and the hide carried to the church in Lisbon. Without the head, it measured 14 hands, and was covered in thick greenish black scales. Stuffed with straw, it was on view in the church there until 1739, when it had to be removed owing to its dilapidated condition. At the foot of any statue of our Lady of Penha de França you will always see a sleeping man and an alligator to represent this legend.
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