Weekend in Lisbon
17th December 2007
Having planned to come to Lisbon only one week ago for a reconaissance mission, we were quite looking forward to our time here. We only spent two nights in Lisbon - arriving late on Friday night and departing on Sunday evening.
During our two days, we visited the Alfama area of Lisbon, the São Jorge Castle in central Lisbon as Mosteiro dos Jeronimos in Belém and the Torre de Belém.
I think that the São Jorge Castle and the Mosteiro dos Jeronimos are the two places that will stick out in my mind.
16th December 2007
Today, we took a trip out to Belém to see the Mosteiro dos Jeronimos and the Torre de Belém, both of which are on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Aware
that we were short on time, we jumped into a cab from our hotel
to the Torre de Belém (pictured right) on the shores
of Lisbon's natural harbour. As we had arrived on a Sunday
and entered before 14:00, we were allowed to enter the tower
for free. During our visited we were able to visit the upper
and lower batteries, the chapel (which had impressive sculpted
vaulting), the Kings room and the Governors room. Perhaps most
impressively, though, was the visit to the terrace which affords
excellent views both accross the harbour and, the other way,
towards the Mosteiro.
Upon
leaving the Torre de Belém, we took the gentle stoll
to the Padrao dos Descobrimentos - a huge monument to those
Portugese who participated in the Age of Discoveries. Amongst
those who are featured on the monument include:
- Henry the Navigator (sponsor of the Age of Discovery)
- Vasco da Gama (discoverer of the sea route to India)
- Pedro Álvares Cabral (discoverer of Brazil)
- Ferdinand Magellan (first to circumnavigate the globe)
- Diogo Cão (first to arrive to the Congo river)
- Bartolomeu Dias (first to cross the Cape of Good Hope)
- Afonso de Albuquerque (second viceroy of Portuguese India)
- Luís de Camões (renaissance poet who celebrated the navigations in the epic Lusiads)
- King Manuel I (ruler on the Age of Discovery)
- Pedro Nunes (16th century mathematician)
- Nuno Gonçalves (15th century painter)
Before heading into the Mosteiro dos Jeronimos, we stopped in the Pastéïs de Belém for some excellent coffee and pastries. The Pastéïs de Belém is a surprisingly large place - in that it's only a small place from the outside but has several large rooms behind. I recomend the Custard tartlets which are produced and consumed in huge numbers and are, therefore, suitably fresh.
The Mosteiro dos Jeronimos was ordered to be built by Manuel
I in memory of Vasco da Gama;s discover of a sea route to India.
Manuel I and many of his descendants are entombed in the monastry
now. Work on the Gothic design
began in 1502 by Diogo de Boitaco. Following the death of Diogo
de Boitaco, construction was continued by João de Castilho
with a more Renaissance style - which is apparent towards the
alter - and later by Diogo de Toralava and Jérome de
Rouen (Jerónimo de Ruão.) 
On
entry to the Monastry (through the façade dominated
after designs by João de Castilho), walk in a straight
line from the centre of the door towards the alter and enjoy
the visual effect as the Cathedral opens up in front you. The
exterior is heavily decorated and very ornate and intricate.
It's worth stopping for a little while to examine the carvings.
On the interior, the pillars are highly carved and intricate.
But to me, one of the most fascinating aspects of the interior
of the Church is the groin vaulting of the ceiling.
The
cloister of the Monastry was a great place to visit. The stonework
is highly detailed and reveals much of the work that must have
gone into the construction of both the Cloister and the Monastry.
Having enough time, we took the number 15 tram back to town - buying our ticket on board from one of the machines. We jumped off the tram in Baixa and gently wandered in the direction of our hotel grabbing a quick bite to eat before setting off for Zürich.
15th December 2007
Leaving our hotel, the Hotel Tivoli Lisboa, we headed into town with the intention of visiting the São Jorge Castle and the Alfama area of Lisbon.
En route, we stopped into the Church of São Domingos near Rossio. The interior of the church is somewhat damaged - I would guess from the 1755 Earthquake but I have yet to verify this.
From the Church of São Domingos, we began the journey to the São Jorge Castle. Part way up we stopped off at "Resto," a cafe/restaurant/bar, with outside seating for an early lunch. We both took salads - one tomato and mozarella, the other the greek salad. As it turns out, both were enjoyable and the glasses of house wine are generous sizes of decent wine for only 2Euro. We're not to savvy on Lisbon prices yet, but we didn't get the feeling we were being ripped off - esp with the views and location.
São
Jorge Castle commands fantastic view over the city of Lisbon
and is worth every step and the 5 euro entry fee. Perched on
top of a hill above Lisbon city, São Jorge Castle boasts
eleven towers including the Torre de Ulisses (The Tower of
Ulysses) which houses a periscope after a design by Leonardo
da Vinci which gives a 360 degree real-time view of the city.
Leaving
the castle in the direction of Igreja de São Vincente
de Fora which took us through the free graffiti area which
is pictured right. While some of the artists clearly exhibit
some talent, others such as those shown have used the oppurtunity
to register their protest against a certain Mr Mugabe of Zimbabwe,
whose image can be seen in the lower left hand side of the
picture.
We
had spied the Igreja de São Vincente de Fora from the
vantage point of the São Jorge Castle and desired to
see the church close up. The Renaissance church was built by
the architect Felipe Terzi between 1582 and 1627. The façade
is simple yet impressive as it harks back to a more-classical
time. The interior is comprised of a wide nave and an impressive
coffered ceiling.
After
the Igreja de São Vincente de Fora, we headed round
the corner to the Panteão
Nacional. The domed building itself is as impressive front
the outside as it is from the inside. The Panteão Nacional
is home to marble cenotaphs to historic figures including Vasco
da Gama and Henry the Navigator as well as General Humberto
Delgado who was assasinated by the secret police in 1965. There
is a lift to the top of the Panteão Nacional - but the
brave (like us!) can walk it.
Having finished rummaging around the Panteão Nacional, we heading into the thicket of the Alfama area of Lisbon. The Alfama is a veritable warren of alleys, small streets and steps. One can picture people shaking hands across the street from one balcony to another. This is one of those places were it is simply best to wander. Get lost. Wander some more. Find your way back to where you needed to be. By accident by accident and getting a bit more lost in the process. And repeat ad infinatum. Just enter and enjoy it. Enough said, me things.
Emerging
from the Alfama, we came across the Se
Catedral de Lisboa (pictured) - seat of the Patriarchate
of Lisbon. The Romanesque cathedral was built in 1150 after
the capture of the city from the Moors. While the 2003 Lonely
Planet is somewhat disapraging about the Se, we found the Cathedral
to well worth visiting in spite of the extensive restoration
that has been undertaken on the church. The Cloister of the
church plays home to an excavation site which shows evidence
of Iron Age, Roman, Islamic habitation on the site before the
Cathedral was built.