LISBON

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LISBON
PART 2
- BELEM POINTS OF INTERST
- CERAMIC TILE MUSEUM
BELEM is a suburb of Lisbon located on the river
Tagus about 6km from the city center. Belém is
famous as the place from which many of the great
Portuguese explorers set off on their voyages of
discovery. In particular, it is the place from
which Vasco De Gama departed for India in 1497.
The main atractions are the TOWER OF BELEM, THE
MONUMENT TO THE DISCOVERIERS and the JERÓNIMOS
MONASTERY.
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The Belem Tower is the symbol of Lisbon. This
imposing bastion was constructed between 1515 and
1521. The tower was built on a basalt island but
is now nearly swallowed up by the river bank.
What is surprising for this military construction
is the large amount of decorations.
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The Tower was originally used for controlling the
navigation on the river.
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From the terrace you can see the famous 25th of
April bridge.
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This bridge has the longest central span in
Europe (1013m/3323ft), longer than San
Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge.
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This is the replica of the small wood and fabric
plane that in 1921 made the first flight between
Lisbon and Rio de Janiero.
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There are no guardrails for parking near the
river, so better watch the sign!
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A monument celebrating the early explorers was
erected in 1960. The structure is patterned after
the prow of a ship. It is called the Monument to
the Discoveries. Heading up the monument is
Prince Henry the Navigator who holds a small ship
in his hands and Vasco da Gama who was the first
to reach India by boat.
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The side view of the monument is in the shape of
a cross.
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Jeronimos is a majestic monastery, built in the
16th century, to celebrate the discoveries of new
worlds. It is one of the best examples of
Manueline architecture, a Portuguese style in
transition between gothic and renaissance. The
monastery has a large and very ornate church.
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The church entry has a lot of statues and
decorations.Today this entrance is closed,
access to the building is through the rear side.
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Church interior with tall and slender columns.
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The columns are covered with elaborate
decorations.
The tomb of Vasco da Gama is inside the church.
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One of the side chapels.
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The monastery has several large rooms. Today some
of them house the museum of archeology and a
small museum of objects made from gold.
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Interior courtyard of the Monastery.
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Twin horses statue in a park in front of the
monastery.Sitting in the sun all day and looking
at the water, they should be very thirsty.
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The National Tile (Azulejo) Museum is located in
the Convent of Madre de Deus, which dates from
1509. The word azulejo means ceramic tile.The
convent also has a large and very decorated
church. Portugal has an old tradition in
manufacturing beautiful tiles. Many houses have
the exterior walls covered with multicolor tiles.
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Inside the museum you can see how the tiles are
made and how they are painted and glazed. There
are also numerous picture-like tile assemblies
decorating the walls.
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The ceiling of the church is like a portrait
gallery.
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There are also many other beautiful art objects
inside the museum.
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This ends our visit to Lisbon. If you will go
there to visit, who knows, I may also pop out to
greet you!
Pictures and presentation byDan Calistrat
dcalistrat_at_aol.com