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King
Manuel I and his descendents were buried in marble tombs placed
in the Chancel of the Church and in the transept chapels. Dedication
of the Monastery to the Virgin of Belém was another important
factor fort he King. The Jerónimos Monastery, as is generally
known, was to replace the original church on the same site, dedicated
to Santa Maria of Belém (St. Mary of Belém) and where
the monks of the Order of Christ gave comfort to passing seamen.
The
main façade of the building extends more than three hundred
metres, and the wide horizontal expanse confers a sense of repose
and calm. It was constructed in stone, quarried locally in Ajuda,
in the Alcântara Valley, Laveiras, River Seco and Tercena.
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Given
the immense scale of the project and the cost of the work, building
contractors and the master craftsmen responsible for them followed
one after the other. Diogo de Boitaca (ca.1460-1528), João
de Castilho (ca.1475-1552), Diogo de Torralva (ca. 1500-1566), Jerónimo
de Ruão (1530-1601) are some of the names of those who left
their indelible mark on the building, according to Monastery documents.
King Manuel I poured large sums of money into the building of the
Monastery at Belém. A good part of what was called the "the
pepper tax" (approximately 5% of the receipts from the spice
trade with Africa and the East, the equivalent of 70kg of gold per
year) served to pay for the work, which, from the beginning, was strictly
dependent on the King. In the 19th century architectural changes were
made to the Monastery. These did not change its basic structure, but
gave it the form we know today. A cupola bell chamber, the dormitory
(today the Archaeological Museum) and the Chapter House were some
of the places, which were, altered the most.
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Towards
the end of the 19th century the remains
Vasco da Gama and
Luís de Camões were placed in the Church in
tombs built by the sculpture Costa Mota.
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The Jerónimos Monastery
is generally referred to as the "jewel" of Manueline
architecture.
The unique and beautiful Manueline style draws together architectural
elements of the late Gothic and Renaissance periods, and associates
them with the symbols of the king, Christianity and the natural world.
King Manuel chose the monks of Order
of St. Jerome (Hieronymus monks)
to occupy the Monastery. Their functions were to pray for the King's
soul and give spiritual comfort to seamen and navigators leaving the
Restelo beach for the discovery of other lands..
The
Order lived in the Monastery for four centuries until 1833, when religious
communities were dissolved and the Monastery cleared. The Monastery
passed into the hands of the State and became a college for the pupils
of the Casa Pia of Lisbon (a children charity) until around 1940.
Since early in its history the Monastery has been a symbol of the
Portuguese nation. There are many reasons for this: because it has
always been intimately associated with the Royal House of Portugal;
because of the good works and intellectual capacity of the monks;
because of the Order's links with Spain; its inevitable link to the
epic
Age of Discovery and finally because of its geographical position
at the entrance to the port of Lisbon.
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Alexandre
Herculano (1810-1874)
Alexandre
Herculano was a remarkable thinker, a writer, a journalist and also
the founder of Portuguese Modern Historiography. He was recognized
by his fellows for his outstanding knowledge and awareness as far
as Portuguese Culture and History are concerned. Among other subjects
he studied and re-collected information from Portuguese historical
archives which had been lost since the extinction of the Religious
Orders in Portugal (1834). A humble man with a huge sense of dignity
Herculano always refused any sort of distinction. He lies in the
Chapter House of Mosteiro dos Jerónimos and his tomb was
the result of a public subscription led by his countless friends
and admirers in Portugal and abroad. Nowadays, the Chapter House
is regarded as a token of gratitude from all Portuguese to this
renowned Man of our History.
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Since
1888 Alexandro Herculano's tomb in the Chapter House, built
by Eduardo Augusto da Silva. |
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Fernando
Pessoa (1888-1935) is certainly one of the most outstanding Portuguese
and European poets of the 20th century. He is the author of a vast
range of work, now universally translated and recognised. A poet
with an intense and diversified work. He wrote under many literary
personalities (heteronimus) such as Álvaro de Campos, Alberto
Caeiro, Ricardo Reis, Bernardo Soares and others. This Poet found
an original and polyphonic way of dealing with the multiplicity,
the diversity, the alternate and the inner identity of the contemporary
man.
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Since
1985 he lies on the in the Cloister of this Monastery. Lagoa
Henriques built the Funeral monument to Fernando Pessoa. |
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Chroniclers,
historians, travellers and artists have written about the Monastery.
It was a shelter, and final resting place for kings, and, later, for
poets. Today it is seen not only as a notable piece of architecture,
but as an integral part of Portuguese culture and identity. It was
declared a National Historic Building in 1907 and UNESCO classified
it as a "World Cultural Heritage Site" in 1984.
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