Lisbon - Hieronymite Convent

(Local Name: Mosteiro dos Jerónimos) In the suburb of Belém, parallel to the bank of the Tagus and measuring almost 300m/985ft, stands one of Portugal's most famous buildings, the former Hieronymite Convent. The convent complex originally stood on the water's edge. However, a gradual and natural shift of the river combined with the building of the harbor basin have meant that its once important proximity to the Tagus can now only be imagined. The Praça do Império, laid out as a park, the wide Avenida da India, the suburban railroad to Cascais as well as some harbor basins and the Padrao dos Descobrimentos now lie between the convent and the Tagus. The choice of site dates back to a hospice which was affiliated to the small chapel of Nossa Senhora de Restelo. This was built here by Henry the Navigator at the time of the first great voyages of discovery in the first half of the 15th C. The Knights of Christ began their journeys from the nearby port of Restelo, the hospice served as their home, the chapel as a place to pray before beginning their voyages into the unknown. Even Vasco da Gama is supposed to have prayed here in the summer of 1497 before his first voyage to India. After the successful return from the expedition, Manuel I commissioned the building of a convent on the site of the chapel. The location of the Mosteiro dos Jerónimos has thus been a focal point for Portugal's most important events. The construction of the Manueline building was begun around 1502 following the plans of Diogo de Boytaca, between 1517 and 1522 the detailed work was carried out under the direction of Joao de Castilho and the high choir was only completed in 1571 thus belonging to the Renaissance. The more than 182m/597ft long western part of the convent complex, in which the maritime museum and the archeological museum are housed, was rebuilt and partly restored at the end of the 19th C. in the Neo Manueline style. After part of the roof above the Chapterhouse collapsed in the winter of 1989/90 there followed a frank discussion about the sorry state of many Portuguese monuments. It was felt necessary to place the Mosteiro dos Jerónimos under the special protection of UNESCO as an endangered world monument. Reasons given for the roof collapse were the generally bad state of repair of the convent complex as well as possibly the building work undertaken for Belém's new cultural center next to the convent forecourt.