Jerónimos Monastery
Manueline monastery in Belém with a carved two-storey cloister and the tombs of Vasco da Gama and Camões.
The Royal Monastery of Santa Maria de Belém was founded by King Manuel I in 1501 on the site of a chapel where Vasco da Gama's crew kept vigil before sailing for India. It was given to the Order of Saint Jerome, whose monks stayed until the religious orders were dissolved in 1833, and was paid for largely from the tax on spices and other goods brought back from Asia and Africa. Work continued for a century under successive master builders.
Diogo de Boitaca began the building and João de Castilho took over in 1517, carrying the elaborate south portal and the single wide vault that spans the nave on slender piers. Diogo de Torralva and Jerónimo de Ruão added Renaissance elements later in the sixteenth century. The square cloister, two storeys of richly carved arcades, is the best-known part. The church holds the tombs of Vasco da Gama and the poet Luís de Camões, and the site has been on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 1983.
Highlights
- Two-storey cloister carved with maritime and royal motifs
- Wide ribbed vault of the church supported on slim piers
- Tombs of Vasco da Gama and the poet Luís de Camões
- UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1983
![Afrique occidentale française : Cathédrale à St Louis / [photogr. Eugène] Gallois ; [photogr. reprod. par Radiguet et Massiot pour la conférence donnée par] Gallois](https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0a/Afrique_occidentale_fran%C3%A7aise_-_Cath%C3%A9drale_%C3%A0_St_Louis_-_%28photogr._Eug%C3%A8ne%29_Gallois_%3B_%28photogr._reprod._par_Radiguet_et_Massiot_pour_la_conf%C3%A9rence_donn%C3%A9e_par%29_Gallois_-_btv1b532798828.jpg/500px-thumbnail.jpg)
![[Golestan, Le Salon et Fete de l'equinode, Teheran, Iran (le Pavillion du Trone)]](https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/33/-Golestan%2C_Le_Salon_et_Fete_de_l%27equinode%2C_Teheran%2C_Iran_%28le_Pavillion_du_Trone%29-_MET_DP202918.jpg/500px--Golestan%2C_Le_Salon_et_Fete_de_l%27equinode%2C_Teheran%2C_Iran_%28le_Pavillion_du_Trone%29-_MET_DP202918.jpg)
![Théâtre de la guerre dans l'Inde sur la coste de Coromandel / par M.B.C.T. [Monsieur Bourcet Capitaine ?] ; gravé par Croisey](https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/99/Fort_de_Calicuta_-_btv1b59706294.jpg/500px-Fort_de_Calicuta_-_btv1b59706294.jpg)
