PORTUGAL Torre de Belem

Jose Salvado Rodrigu…, on March 6, 2008, said:

mONUMENTO MUITO BONITO

Talavan, on March 11, 2008, said:

Obrigado

Ric Vieira, on October 5, 2008, said:

The Belém Tower was built both as a ceremonial gateway to Lisbon and as part of a defense system of the entrance of the Tagus river and the Jerónimos Monastery, which was necessary to protect Lisbon. The system was initiated by King John II (1455-1495), who built the Fortress of Cascais and the Fortress of São Sebastião of Caparica. The banks of Belém were protected by a ship, the Grande Nau, replaced by the Tower of Belém during the last five years of the reign of King Manuel I.

The Tower was constructed between 1515 and 1521 by military architect Francisco de Arruda, who had already built several fortresses in Portuguese possessions in Morocco. The influence of the Moorish decorative art is manifest in delicate decorations of the arched windows and balconies and in the ribbed cupolas of the watch towers.