The Marques de Pombal was the prime minister responsible for the rebuilding of Lisbon following the 1755 earthquake. The statue shows him standing on a column with his hand on a lion to symbolize power, and his eyes were directed to the downtown area that he rebuilt. The base of the column is decorated with allegorical images representing Pombal's political, educational, and agricultural reforms. Broken blocks of stone at the foot of the monument and tidal waves flooding the city symbolize the effects of the earthquake. The surrounding paving stones are decorated with a mosaic of Lisbon's coat of arms.
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Built in Manueline architecture style by Manuel I in 1501 after the return of Vasco da Gama from his historic voyage. The monastery was cared for by the Order of St. Jerome until 1834 when it was disbanded.
Tags: Mosteiro dos Jeronimos Belem Portugal UNESCO World Heritage Sites Places of Worship
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Excerpt from Wikipedia:
The ornate side entrance to the monastery was designed by Juan de Castilho and is considered one of the most significant of his time, but is not, in fact, the main entrance to the building.[9] This shrine-like portal is large, 32 metres (105 ft) high and 12 metres (39 ft) wide, extending two stories. Its ornate features includes an abundance of gables and pinnacles, with many carved figures standing under a baldachin in carved niches, around a statue of Henry the Navigator, standing on a pedestal between the two doors.
The tympanum, above the double door, displays, in half-relief, two scenes from the life of Saint Jerome: on the left, the removal of the thorn from the lion's paw and, on the right, the saint's experience in the desert. In the spandrel between these scenes is the coat of arms of king Manuel I, while the archivolt and tympanum are covered in Manueline symbols and elements. The Madonna (Santa Maria de Belém) is on a pedestal on top of the archivolt, surmounted by the archangel Michael, while above the portal there is a cross of the Order of Christ. The portal is harmoniously flanked on each side by a large window with richly decorated mouldings.
Tags: Mosteiro dos Jeronimos Belem Portugal UNESCO World Heritage Sites Places of Worship Level 1-Photography for Recreation Nice As It Gets-Level 1 Music to My Eyes Church of Santa Maria
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The Monastery of the Hieronymites (Jerónimos) was built by King Manuel I of Portugal in 1501 on the site of an earlier church, Santa Maria de Belém, on the banks of the River Tagus at the entrance of Lisbon. It was built in the Manueline architectural style, particular to Portugal, with elements of the Late Gothic and Renaissance periods. Its role was to pray for the King’s eternal soul, and to provide spiritual assistance to navigators and sailors who set sail to discover the world.
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Excerpt from Wikipedia:
Diogo Boitac laid the foundations for this three-aisled church (Church of Santa Maria) with five bays under a single vault, a clearly marked but only slightly projecting transept and a raised choir. The hall church layout is composed of aisles and nave that are of equal height. Boitac built the walls of the church as far as the cornices and then started with the construction of the adjoining monastery.
Juan de Castilho, a Spanish architect and sculptor, continued the construction in 1517. He completed the retaining walls and the unique single-span ribbed vault, a combination of stellar vaulting and tracery vaults spanning the 19-metre-wide church.[11] Each set of ribs in the vaulting is secured by bosses. The bold design (1522) of the transversal vault of the transept lacks any piers or columns, while Boitac had originally planned three bays in the transept. The transept's unsupported vault gives the visitor the impression that it floats in the air.
Castilho also decorated the six 25-metre high, slender, articulated, octagonal columns with refined grotesque or floral elements typical of the Renaissance style. The construction of this late-Gothic hall is aesthetically and architecturally a masterwork: it augments the spatial effect of this vast building. The northern column closest to the transept there is a medallion that may have been intentionally included as a portrait of Boitac or Juan de Castilho.
At the end of the side aisles and on both sides of the choir are altars (also in the Manueline style) dating from the 16th and the 17th centuries. They are decorated with carved wood and plated in golden and green pigment, and one of them supports the image of Saint Jerome in multi-coloured enamelled terracotta.
This chancel was ordered by Queen Catherine of Austria as the final resting place for the royal family. It is the work of Jerónimo de Ruão (Jean de Rouen) in the Classical style. The royal tombs rest on marble elephants and are set between Ionic pillars, topped by Corinthian pillars. The tombs on the left side of the choir belong to king Manuel I and his wife Maria of Aragon, while the tombs on the right side belong to King João III and his wife Queen Catherine of Austria.
Tags: Church of Santa Maria Mosteiro dos Jeronimos Belem Portugal Places of Worship UNESCO World Heritage Sites
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