Belém Tower

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Jeronimos Monastery and
Belém Tower in Lisbon
UNESCO world heritage UNESCO World Heritage Emblem
Torre de Belem 1.JPG
National territory: PortugalPortugal Portugal
Type: Culture
Criteria : iii, vi
Surface: 2.66 ha
Reference No .: 263
UNESCO region : Europe and North America
History of enrollment
Enrollment: 1983  (session 7)

The Torre de Belém (German Tower of Belém ) in the Belém district at the mouth of the Tejo is one of the most famous landmarks of Lisbon . Along with the nearby Mosteiro dos Jerónimos , the tower is one of the few outstanding structures of the Manueline style that survived the Lisbon earthquake in 1755. The top, 35 meter high, exposed floor of the tower is now a viewing platform.

history

In 1515 the tower by the Portuguese king was Manuel I commissioned. Six years later, in the year of Manuel's death (1521), it was completed. Since then it has symbolized the heyday of the Portuguese sea and trading empire . As a lighthouse on a rock in the mouth of the Tejo, it greeted the arriving explorers and merchant ships. Originally there was a second tower on the opposite side. Enemy ships could thus be caught in the crossfire. However, this twin tower was destroyed by the great earthquake of 1755 .

As a symbol of protection for seafarers, a statue of Our Lady of Safe Homecoming looks out over the sea. On the northwest side of the tower there is also a sculpture of a rhinoceros head, which is the first plastic representation of this animal in Europe.

The Indian rhinoceros , which Afonso de Albuquerque brought back from his trip to India in 1515 and which Albrecht Dürer later also provided the template for the woodcut of his "rhinoceros".

This is a picture of the rhinoceros , which Afonso de Albuquerque in 1515 from his journey to India brought and later Albrecht Dürer provided the model for his woodcut "rhinoceros". The bastion gets its own character from the rich decorations with whiskers, shield-shaped battlements, openwork balconies and Moorish lookouts.

The gloomy interior served as a prison and weapons depot until the 19th century. In the 19th century it came to embankments on the northern bank of the Tagus . Today the Torre is therefore only a few meters away from the land. Since 1983, the Torre de Belém is one of the world heritage of UNESCO .

Web links

Commons : Torre de Belém  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ whc.unesco.org accessed on 29 June 2009

Coordinates: 38 ° 41 ′ 30 ″  N , 9 ° 12 ′ 57 ″  W.