MUST SEE: Monastery of the Hieronymites and Tower of Belém

Lisbon, Portugal

 

 

The Monastery of the Hieronymites and the nearby Tower of Belém  are UNESCO world heritage sites that represent the story of the Portuguese Age of Discovery.  Standing along the Tagus River at the entrance to Lisbon harbor, the Monastery of the Hieronymites  and the Tower of Belém . To some the estuary the town of Belem sits on is a perfect metaphor for what the historical landmarks at Belém emphasize – Portuguese influence going out across the ocean and the consequences of all that came back across the sea.

THE MONASTERY OF HIERONYMITES or JERONIMOS

Construction of the Monastery of Hieronymites began in 1501 and culminated 100 years later in 1601.  Today the structure exemplifies Portuguese Gothic Manueline style art at its best.  The Monastery with built near the launch point of Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama’s first voyage and its construction was funded by a tax on the profits of the yearly Portuguese Indai Armadas.  There was in fact a church in this spot falling into disrepair where it is said that Vasca da Gama and his men stopped to pray before their historic departure to the New World after which he proclaimed the discovery of the sea route to Asia.  In 1880, da Gama’s remains and those of the poet Luis de Camoes (who celebrated da Gama’s first voyage in his 1572 epic poem, The Lusiad), were moved to new carved tombs in the nave of the monastery’s church, only a few meters away from the tombs of the kings Manuel I and John III, whom da Gama had served. The monastery was originally a monastery for the Order of Saint Jerome and was built in such proximity to the Tagus river so that sailors could stop in to pray for protection before setting out to sea.  It became the necropolis of the Portuguese royal dynasty of Aviz in the 16th century and was abandoned in 1833.  In 1983, the Jerónimos Monastery was classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, along with the nearby Tower of Belém .

THE TOWER OF Belém

The nearby Tower of Belém was built between 1514-1520 while the Monastery of Jerome was also under construction with the same stones.  The Tower was built during the reign of King Manuel I as a fortification defending the entry to Lisbon.  Indeed a heavily armed 1,000 ton ship, the Grande Nau, guarded the estuary at the mouth of the Tagus until the fort’s completion.  There are 16 or 17 openings for cannons and ditches around it that were used as dungeons.  The Tower was not a spartan fortification however; the Tower of Belém was also built elaborately as a symbol and a celebration of Portuguese power and triumph in the New World commemorating Vasco da Gama’s famous expedition to Asia in the late 1490’s.  By the early to mid 1800’s the tower’s function changed into a lighthouse and customs house to collect tolls on mariners entering and exiting port.  The Tower is a reminder of the great maritime discoveries that laid the foundations of the modern world.  The Tower of Belém is considered one of the best examples of the architecture of its time, known as the Manueline style, but it also includes distinctive Moorish features such as ornately decorated turrets.  The Tower was adorned with intricate carvings much like the nearby monastery.  All the symbols had a bearing on passersby: some stand too welcome visitors, grant safe passage to explorers, others to protect the shores and people of Portugal while threatening and scaring off invaders.