Belém, Lisbon

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Across the road from the Jeronimos Monastery on the riverfront is the Discoveries Monument. This was built in 1960 to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the death of Prince Henry the Navigator. The monument looks like the front of a ship and contains sulptures of Prince Henry the Navigator at the prow, King Manuel I, poet Luis Camoes, Vasco de Gama, Magellan and several other famous Portuguese people.

Apparently you can go inside and go up an elevator to the top of the monument, but as we visited on Christmas Day it was closed. There is a view of the 25th of April Bridge and the Christ statue from the monument. Get here by number 15 tram from Commercio Square or Cais de Sodre.

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Most visitors don't enter the Tower of Belem. It's acceptable, because its content is poor and time generally short, but if you have time, and want to discover how it was conceived and used as stronghold, you may go inside and have a look. It is not a waste of time, and it will not consume much of it (time).

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Just a few meters west of the Tower of Belem, a monument inaugurated in 1994 celebrates the fighters in colonial war (about two hundred thousand and... me).

Surrounded by a long wall with the death's names, a modern formation pretends to be the symbol of the union among people. OK! No problem. It's just beside the tower, can be seen in a glimpse, and, as a sample of modern architecture, it's better then the bunker called Cultural Center.

Monument to the discoveries is place that celebrates the Portuguese who took part in the Age of Discovery from 15-16 centuries.
It is 52 meter high slab of concrete, carved into the shape of the prow of the ship.
Across from Jeronimos Monastery, built on the north bank of the Tagus River in 1960 for 500th anniversary of the death of Prince Henry the Navigator. There are lot of sculptures of important figures such as King Manuel I, Vasco da Gama, Magellan, Cabral....

10 am-6 pm (Closed Mondays)

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Jeronimos monastery is from 16th century – build to discovers and to be king Manual I burial monument. Located in Belem a part of the city west 6 km from the city center. This monastery can be considered one of the most prominent monuments in Lisbon and is certainly one of the most successful achievements of the Manueline style. In 1983 it was classified by the UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.
In interior there are royal tombs in the main chapel, where are each sarcophagus is held by two elephants. Whithni the church, close to the wester portal, are the stone tombs of Vasco da Gama and Luis de Camoes.

10 am-5pm (Oct- April)
10 am- 6 pm (May-Sept.)
Closed Mondays
Fee: 6 euros

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Belem tower is in a UNECSO world heritage List with the nearby Jeronimos Monastery because of the significant role it played in the Portuguese maritime discoveries of the era of the Age of Discoveries.
The tower is from 16th century and is a prominent example of the Portuguese Manueline style.
Gaudy use this Manueline style for his work.

10 am-5pm (Oct- April)
10 am- 6.30 pm (May-Sept.)
Closed Mondays
Fee: 4 euros

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We are not so interested in churches and monasterys as many people are-we think they mostly look kind of the same-at least inside,usuall the best part in our eyes is what you see out.But luckily I had seen so many photos of this monastery and the church inside,that I knew that this is VERY beautyful!Tell you the truth,this was the only monastery/church we went in in our 1o days in Lisbon.And it was woth a visit,absolutely.I took so many photos there,that I haven´t even counted them.
I just loved the roof!I took plenty of photos just about the roof!
And the church wasn´t full of gold and colors,like many other ones we´ve seen.We just can´t find those golden things beautyful,more like kitch,if you ask me!This was different from those!

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The names of great explorers still echo around Portugal and their courage to brave uncharted waters and sail to unknown destinations (maybe with strange animals and people) are an inspiration. It was these who took Portugal from being a small country to one that discovered and colonized many lands. It’s a bit “sentimentalist” but when I was a boy I dreamed of traveling the world in a caravel. Nowadays I prefer the quick airplane :-)

Padrão dos Descobrimentos, or Monument to the Discoveries, is a monument dedicated to Portugal’s Age of Discovery celebrating the Portuguese who mentoring and took part in those “non virtual” trips of the 15th and 16th C. It is located on the estuary of the Tagus river (facing the river), close to the place where in those days ships used to depart to their often unknown destinations -Belém beach.

The primitive monument that Cottinelli Telmo outlined and Leitão de Barros and Leopoldo de Almeida gave plastic and metal form, was raised in 1940 on the occasion of the "Exhibition of the Portuguese World" and was built with perishable materials. It was so remarkable that in 1960, for the commemorations marking 500 years since the death of Prince Henry the Navigator, it was rebuilt in concrete and white limestone.

The monument consists of a 52 metre-high slab of concrete, carved into the shape of the prow of a ship symbolizing a caravel, and it is peopled with limestone sculptures of 32 historical figures of the seafaring history. Leading the group is Prince Henry the Navigator, the driving force behind Portugal’s overseas discoveries, son of King João I of Portugal, and it is carrying a 3-sailed ship like those Portugal used at those times. Besides Henry we can spot several “important” Portuguese men and women from that time. Among them:
Vasco da Gama -discoverer of the sea route to India,
Pedro Álvares Cabral -discoverer of Brazil,
Fernão de Magalhães (best know worldwide through is “Spanish” name Ferdinand Magellan) - first to circumnavigate the globe, ,
Bartolomeu Dias -first to cross the Cape of Good Hope (before that was named Cape of Torments),
Afonso de Albuquerque -second viceroy of Portuguese India who extended the empire to the farthest places of Malay province and what is now Indonesian east islands,
Luís de Camões - the national poet who celebrated the navigations in the epic Os Lusíadas,
King Manuel I - ruler at the Age of Discovery,
Pedro Nunes - 16th C. mathematician and cosmographer of the kingdom who revolutionize the map representing system and gave the correct notion of route in a spherical world,
Nuno Gonçalves - the most important Portuguese painter of 15th C. with beautiful panels on exhibition at the National Ancient Art Museum.

The façade facing down to the ground takes on the form of a cross decorated by the Sword of the Order of Aviz, the main financial sponsor of the Discovery voyages. Inside the monument a small space hosts a multimedia exhibition on the history of Lisbon entitled “The Lisbon Experience”. The pavement in front of the monument features a mosaic decoration depicting a huge mariner’s compass made of colored marble containing a map of the world (as we know it today, not the known lands at the time of Discoveries) and the routes of various Portuguese explorers. It was a gift from South Africa in 1960.
Facing the monument, the Espelho de Água ("Water Mirror") was equally built for the 1940 exhibition and now houses some restaurants with a superb view.
On the top of the monument (reached via an elevator) one can enjoy wonderful panoramic views over the Tejo river, the Belém quarter and all its main treasures, such as the Belém Tower and the Jerónimos Monastery.
Served by city bus and trams and trains.