Jerónimos Monastery
In Belém, the masterpiece of the Manueline style: King Manuel I's monastery, with its lace-like cloister and the tombs of Vasco da Gama and Camões.
Royal Monastery of Santa Maria de Belém
The Jerónimos Monastery, in Belém, is one of the masterpieces of Portuguese architecture and the great symbol of the Manueline style. Commissioned by King Manuel I on the site of a small hermitage – where Vasco da Gama prayed on the eve of his departure for India in 1497 –, the Royal Monastery of Santa Maria de Belém was entrusted to the Order of Saint Jerome, which gave it the name by which it is known. The first stone was laid on Epiphany Day in 1501 or 1502, and the works were directed first by Diogo Boitaca and, from 1517, by João de Castilho, to whom much of the exuberant decoration admired today is owed. The Church of Santa Maria, with its vaults resting on remarkably slender columns, and the two-storey cloister, carved like lace in stone, are not to be missed; the church holds the tombs of Vasco da Gama and Luís de Camões. Classified as a National Monument in 1907 and inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1983, together with the Belém Tower, the monastery is a journey back to the Age of Discovery and the ambition of a kingdom facing the sea.
Located at: Jerónimos Monastery
Address: Praça do Império, 1400-206 Lisboa
Opening hours: cloister 09:30-17:30; church 10:30-17:00, Sunday 14:00-17:00 (closed on Mondays)
Phone: +351 213 620 034
Coordinates: 38.6977531, -9.2055912
Buses: 714, 727, 728, 729, 751, 79B
Tram: 15E
Train: Cascais Line, Belém Station
Boat: Belém River Station
Opened: 1502 (construction began, 524 years)
