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WOW!!!!
What a beautiful city!
And what a great location!
So many coloured buildings.
And beautiful buildings.
I think I have this right ...
Pink was for Palaces and rich people.
Yellow was for Government buildings.
And white was for ordinary houses.
That was hundreds and hundreds of years ago.
So no laws about it now but the people like the tradition so they keep doing it.
As Tiago said, the Portuguese LOVE pink.
Instead of saying 'Sweet Dreams' to their children, they say 'Pink Dreams.'
( This is written in haste... So much I have to check on and come back and correct.
Wifi does not work in my room in this spectacular hotel so I am always in the indoor courtyard, trying to blog and look up Google.)
We did a bus tour of the city.
Saw the magnificent 25th of April Bridge.
(In 1974 the peaceful Carnation Revolution brought an end to the authoritarian regime. After the revolution, many of the monuments in the city that referred to the regime were given a new name. The Ponte Salazar was renamed Ponte 25 de Abril or 25th of April Bridge to commemorate the start of the revolution on April 25, 1974.)
And the amazing statue of Christ on the hill behind the bridge, Christ The King.
Then went to the wonderful fort by the sea, The Torre de Belem.
This was the last place sailors used to see as they set off for distant lands.
And didn't the Portuguese sail and discover everywhere!
I'll try to list them later.
If anyone is up and reading this in the wee small hours in Melbourne, I am sipping on a whisky, sitting in the courtyard, magnificent sunny day, about 28 degrees, 6.20pm here, 1.20am over there.
Leaving in 45 mins for a dinner with Fado singing and guitar.
The Torre de Belem was beautiful.
Building started in 1513, completed 1519 as a fortification on the River Tagus
It was enormous.
And simply spectacular, white limestone.
From the Internet:
The tower is isolated along the riverbank, between the dock of Bom Sucesso and Pedrouços, on a basaltic outcropping of rocks. Although various guides have claimed that the tower was built in the middle of the Tagus, and now sits near the shore after the 1755 earthquake redirected the river, they are incorrect. The Portuguese Ministry of Culture (Ministério da Cultura) and the Institute of Architectural Heritage indicate that the tower was constructed on a small island near the bank of the Tagus, opposite the shore of Restelo. As development extended the shoreline progressively, more and more of the northern bank crept southwards into the Tagus, the tower becoming integrated into the riverbank over time.
Unfortunately, it was cloudy this morning.
So the IPhone photos are not great and can't capture the majesty of the Tower.
But amazing to see in person.
Then on to The Monument to the Discoveries.
Wow!
I think the Portuguese know how to build monuments.
This was stunning!
And what an idea!
The Internet:
Padrão dos Descobrimentos ... Monument to the Discoveries is a monument on the northern bank of the Tagus River estuary, in the civil parish of Santa Maria de Belém, Lisbon. Located along the river where ships departed to explore and trade with India and Orient, the monument celebrates the Portuguese Age of Discovery (or Age of Exploration) during the 15th and 16th centuries.
On the northern façade flanking the staircase are two inscriptions in metal: on the left, "AO INFANTE D. HENRIQVE E AOS PORTVGVESES QVE DESCOBRIRAM OS CAMINHOS DO MAR" (To Prince Henry and the Portuguese that Discovered the Roads of the Sea) over a metal anchor; and, on the right, the words "NO V CENTENÁRIO DO INFANTE D. HENRIQVE 1460 – 1960" (On the Fifth centenary of Prince Henry 1460–1960), over a crown of laurel.
The original structure, inaugurated on 9 August 1960, was erected in steel and cement, while the 33 statues was produced in a composite of plaster and tow. Ostensibly a 52-metre-high (171 ft) slab standing vertically along the bank of the Tagus, the design takes the form of the prow of a caravel (ship used in the early Portuguese exploration). On either side of the slab are ramps that join at the river's edge, with the figure of Henry the Navigator on its edge. On either side of the Infante, along the ramp, are 16 figures (33 in total) representing figures from the Portuguese Age of Discovery. These great people of the era included monarchs, explorers, cartographers, artists, scientists and missionaries. Each idealized figure is designed to show movement towards the front (the unknown sea), projecting a direct or indirect synthesis of their participation in the events after Henry.
I have added photos with the names of each statue ...
Absolutely spectacular, and surprisingly moving.
Before I go any further, I have to add the places that the Portuguese discovered.
Blocked by the Spanish on one side and the sea on the other, they took to the sea.
And didn't they do it spectacularly!
Are you ready for this?
Chronology of the Portuguese discoveries ... From the Internet!
1147 — Voyage of the Adventurers. Soon before the siege of Lisbon by the crusaders, a Muslim expedition left in search of legendary Islands offshore. They were not heard of again.
1336 — Possible first expedition to the Canary Islands with additional expeditions in 1340 and 1341, though this is disputed.
1412 — Prince Henry, the Navigator, orders the first expeditions to the African Coast and Canary Islands.
1419 — João Gonçalves Zarco and Tristão Vaz Teixeira discovered Porto Santo island, in the Madeira group.
1420 — The same sailors and Bartolomeu Perestrelo discovered the island of Madeira, which at once began to be colonized.
1422 — Cape Nao, the limit of Moorish navigation is passed as the African Coast is mapped.
1427 — Diogo de Silves discovered the Azores, which was colonized in 1431 by Gonçalo Velho Cabral.
1434 — Gil Eanes sailed round Cape Bojador, thus destroying the legends of the ‘Dark Sea’.
1434 — the 32 point compass-card replaces the 12 points used until then.
1435 — Gil Eanes and Afonso Gonçalves Baldaia discovered Garnet Bay (Angra dos Ruivos) and the latter reached the Gold River (Rio de Ouro).
1441 — Nuno Tristão reached Cape White.
1443 — Nuno Tristão penetrated the Arguim Gulf. Prince Pedro granted Henry the Navigator the monopoly of navigation, war and trade in the lands south of Cape Bojador.
1444 — Dinis Dias reached Cape Green (Cabo Verde).
1445 — Álvaro Fernandes sailed beyond Cabo Verde and reached Cabo dos Mastros (Cape Red)
1446 — Álvaro Fernandes reached the northern Part of Portuguese Guinea
1452 — Diogo de Teive discovers the Islands of Flores and Corvo.
1458 — Alvise Cadamosto discovers the first Cape Verde Islands.
1460 — Death of Prince Henry, the Navigator. His systematic mapping of the Atlantic,reached 8° N on the African Coast and 40° W in the Atlantic (Sargasso Sea) in his lifetime.
1461 — Diogo Gomes and António Noli discovered more of the Cape Verde Islands.
1461 — Diogo Afonso discovered the western islands of the Cape Verde group.
1471 — João de Santarém and Pedro Escobar crossed the Equator. The southern hemisphere was discovered and the sailors began to be guided by a new constellation, the Southern Cross. The discovery of the islands of São Tomé and Príncipe is also attributed to these same sailors.
1472 — João Vaz Corte-Real and Álvaro Martins Homem reached the Land of Cod, now called Newfoundland.
1479 — Treaty of Alcáçovas establishes Portuguese control of the Azores, Guinea, ElMina, Madeira and Cape Verde Islands and Castilian control of the Canary Islands.
1482 — Diogo Cão reached the estuary of the Zaire (Congo) and placed a landmark there. Explored 150 km upriver to the Yellala Falls.
1484 — Diogo Cão reached Walvis Bay, south of Namibia.
1487 — Afonso de Paiva and Pero da Covilhã traveled overland from Lisbon in search of the Kingdom of Prester John. (Ethiopia)
1488 — Bartolomeu Dias, crowning 50 years of effort and methodical expeditions, rounded the Cape of Good Hope and entered the Indian Ocean. They had found the "Flat Mountain" of Ptolemy's Geography.
1489/92 — South Atlantic Voyages to map the winds
1490 — Columbus leaves for Spain after his father-in-law's death.
1492 — First exploration of the Indian Ocean.
1494 — The Treaty of Tordesillas between Portugal and Spain divided the world into two parts, Spain claiming all non-Christian lands west of a north-south line 370 leagues west of the Azores, Portugal claiming all non-Christian lands east of that line.
1495 — Voyage of João Fernandes, the Farmer, and Pedro Barcelos to Greenland. During their voyage they discovered the land to which they gave the name of Labrador (lavrador, farmer)
1494 — First boats fitted with cannon doors and topsails.
1498 — Vasco da Gama led the first fleet around Africa to India, arriving in Calicut.
1498 — Duarte Pacheco Pereira explores the South Atlantic and the South American Coast North of the Amazon River.
1500 — Pedro Álvares Cabral discovered Brazil on his way to India.
1500 — Gaspar Corte-Real made his first voyage to Newfoundland, formerly known as Terras Corte-Real.
1500 — Diogo Dias discovered an island they named after St Lawrence after the saint on whose feast day they had first sighted the island later known as Madagascar
1502 — Returning from India, Vasco da Gama discovers the Amirante Islands (Seychelles).
1502 — Miguel Corte-Real set out for New England in search of his brother, Gaspar. João da Nova discovered Ascension Island. Fernão de Noronha discovered the island which still bears his name.
1503 — On his return from the East, Estêvão da Gama discovered Saint Helena Island.
1505 — Gonçalo Álvares in the fleet of the first viceroy sailed south in the Atlantic to were "water and even wine froze" discovering an island named after him, modern Gough Island
1505 — Lourenço de Almeida made the first Portuguese voyage to Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and established a settlement there.
1506 — Tristão da Cunha discovered the island that bears his name. Portuguese sailors become the first Europeans to reach Madagascar.
1509 — The Bay of Bengal crossed by Diogo Lopes de Sequeira. On the crossing he also reached Malacca.
1511 — Duarte Fernandes is the first European to visit the Kingdom of Siam (Thailand), sent by Afonso de Albuquerque after the conquest of Malaca.
1512 — António de Abreu discovered Timor island and reached Banda Islands, Ambon Island and Seram. Francisco Serrão reached the Moluccas.
1512 — Pedro Mascarenhas discovered the island of Diego Garcia, he also encountered the Mauritius, although he may not have been the first to do so; expeditions by Diogo Dias and Afonso de Albuquerque in 1507 may have encountered the islands. In 1528 Diogo Rodrigues named the islands of Réunion, Mauritius, and Rodrigues the Mascarene Islands, after Mascarenhas.
1512 — João de Lisboa and Estevão Frois reached the La Plata estuary or even perhaps the Gulf of San Matias in 42°S in modern Argentina between 1511 and 1514 (1512) according to the manuscript Newen Zeytung auss Pressilandt in the Fugger archives of the time. Christopher de Haro, the financier of the expedition, bears witness to the trip to La Plata (Rio da Prata) and the news of the "White King" to the interior and west, the Inca emperor – and the axe of silver obtained from the natives and offered to the king Manuel I.
1513 — The first trading ship to touch the coasts of China, under Jorge Álvares and Rafael Perestrello later in the same year.
1517 — Fernão Pires de Andrade and Tomé Pires were chosen by Manuel I of Portugal to sail to China to formally open relations between the Portuguese Empire and the Ming Dynasty during the reign of the Zhengde Emperor.
1525 — Aleixo Garcia explored the Rio de la Plata in service to Spain, as a member of the expedition of Juan Díaz de Solís, and later – from Santa Catarina, Brazil – leading an expedition of some Europeans and 2,000 Guaraní Indians, explored Paraguay and Bolivia. Aleixo Garcia was the first European to cross the Chaco and even managed to penetrate the outer defenses of the Inca Empire on the hills of the Andes (near Sucre), in present-day Bolivia. He was the first European to do so, accomplishing this eight years before Francisco Pizarro.
1526 — Discovery of New Guinea by Jorge de Meneses
1528 — Diogo Rodrigues explores the Mascarene islands, that he names after his countryman Pedro Mascarenhas, he explored and named the islands of Réunion, Mauritius, and Rodrigues
1529 — Treaty of Saragossa divides the eastern hemisphere between Spain and Portugal, stipulating that the dividing line should lie 297.5 leagues or 17° east of the Moluccas.
1542 — Fernão Mendes Pinto, Diogo Zeimoto and Cristovão Borralho became the first Europeans to reach Japan.
1542 — The coast of California explored by João Rodrigues Cabrilho.
1557 — Macau given to Portugal by the Emperor of China as a reward for services rendered against the pirates who infested the China Sea.
This mighty exploration ceased after the Battle of Ksar El Kebir in 1578 saw the death of the young king Sebastian.
The Iberian Union was the dynastic union of the Crown of Portugal and the Spanish Crown between 1580 and 1640, bringing the entire Iberian Peninsula, as well as Spanish and Portuguese overseas possessions, under the Spanish Habsburg kings Philip II, Philip III and Philip IV of Spain. The union began as a result of the Portuguese crisis of succession.
And,THEN ... Just to top that, we went to the famous Jeronimos Monastery.
Wow.
Wow!
WOW!!!!!
This was simply beautiful.
I hope the photos of the inside does it justice.
All I could think about, Mum, was 'Pillars of the Earth.'
This is one of the most amazing buildings I have seen.
I loved every second in here.
And the size of it was overwhelming.
It went on for block after block after block!
And it survived the earthquake of 1755, that was 9 on the richter scale.
And the tsunami that followed.
This earthquake happened on a religious day.
All the churches had candles lit everywhere.
So, not only was there this HUGE earthquake ...
But the candles set everything alight ...
And then a tsunami hit.
From the Internet:
In 1755, the earthquake struck on the morning of 1 November, the holy day of All Saints' Day. Contemporary reports state that the earthquake lasted between three and a half and six minutes, causing fissures 5 metres (15 feet) wide to open in the city centre. Survivors rushed to the open space of the docks for safety and watched as the water receded, revealing a sea floor littered with lost cargo and shipwrecks. Approximately 40 minutes after the earthquake, a tsunami engulfed the harbour and downtown area, rushing up the Tagus river, !so fast that several people riding on horseback ... were forced to gallop as fast as possible to the upper grounds for fear of being carried away." It was followed by two more waves. In the areas unaffected by the tsunami, fire quickly broke out, and flames raged for five days.
But this Monastery survived and remains as it was from centuries before.
The construction of the monastery and church began on 6 January 1501, and was completed 100 years later. King Manuel originally funded the project with moneys obtained from the Vintena da Pimenta, a 5 percent tax on commerce from Africa and the Orient, equivalent to 70 kilograms (150 lb) of gold per year, with the exception of those taxes collected on the importation of pepper, cinnamon and cloves, which went directly to the Crown. With the influx of such riches, the architects were not limited to small-scale plans, and resources already prescribed for the Monastery of Batalha, including the Aviz pantheon, were redirected to the project in Belém.
Manuel I selected the religious order of Hieronymite monks to occupy the monastery, whose role it was to pray for the King's eternal soul and to provide spiritual assistance to navigators and sailors who departed from the port of Restelo to discover lands around the world. This the monks did for over four centuries until 1833, when the religious orders were dissolved and the monastery was abandoned.
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I absolutely loved it!!!!
Onto Cascais ... Beachside town, on the Atlantic.
Spectacular.
Wandered the most amazing footpaths made of small cubed rocks.
The arrangement of these rocks made the pavements look like ocean waves.
And even though the ground was flat, you would swear that it had hollows and troughs.
Just like waves.
Had an amazing time in a shop here.
Bought 2 strings of grey and white pearls ( one for Mum ) necklaces made from silver and cork, cork bracelets and a cork bag!
So much fun in that shop.
Wonderful town.
Amazing beach.
Then onto Sintar.
Wonderful old town and Palace.
Especially the tour of the Palace.
And the great HUGE white chimneys over the Palace kitchen.
Amazing to see from the outside.
Incredible to be inside the kitchen looking up the chimneys.
Built so all smoke and fumes would go out these huge chimney stacks!
Wandered the streets.
Watched fascinated as a 2 man team lay the cobblestone pathways.
One man hammered the small cobblestones into place, the second man swept and filled in the grout between them. Just moving along with a wheelbarrow, the stones and a broom.
Tiago said that people study to learn this craft so the art is not lost.
Had an ice cream in the shade, gazing at the Palace.
Great day.
Out to dinner now.
OK, 10pm now.
Back in the courtyard.
Dinner and the Fado singing was wonderful.
Very expressive.
So glad I got to see this part of the Portuguese culture.
- comments
M There is way to much going on in this post will need to revisit this one I think. I'm on a packed tram... Scored a seat but people are tumbling over around me at each stop :/I'm concentrating very hard on writing this so I don't laugh!
Andrew Browning Great old fort.
Andrew Browning We love Cascais!
Andrew Browning How amazing are those coble stones?
Andrew Browning I'll never complain about an F20 rejection file again!
Andrew Browning Afternoon Carolyn, What a great day, yes it is a beautiful city - so colourful with the buildings and roof tops. So much hustle and bustle on the coble stone streets as well, so vibrant and alive. You’re up with your history I see, not many people would be paying attention about the coloured buildings or the amount of sides an outdoor lamp has.(great to see, as this was a question on the test haha) You will be feeling orientated now from your bus tour, lots to take in eh, head swinging from side to side going…… WOW…..OMG….click click with the camera.The Torre de Belem ? did you climb to the top, tiny stairway from memory and a signal system of when to go up (green) and when to stop (red) for people using the stairs! (now you can test my memory!) Funny, you don’t hear much about Portugal but yes, they did sail all over the world discovering it. Sipping a whisky in the courtyard on a sunny day - 28 degrees!! I was asleep while this was taking place. Its hailing in Ringwood at the moment…..it could even be snow ! Wonderful Monastery, absolutely stunning. Hey enjoy Sintra and the Palace de Pena…..and gorgeous Cascais (that’s the town we changed our last few days too so we could “relax”) How are those wavy coble stone pathways, unreal aren’t they.I love the photo of the man laying the cobblestones…….and I thought Interops was hard, I’ll never complain again about an F20!! Photos are great. AndrewXx
Mum Morning Sweetie,Beautiful lot of photos today.Yes, I can see how they'd remind you of Pillars of the Earth.A book of the Monastery would be a wonderful coffe table book.You're doing a great job keeping us informed of your adventures.1.20am, missing out on sleep.I guess the Whisky helped.I love the idea of the coloured houses, you wouldn't consider any other colour than pink though.Enjoy the warm weather.Our forecast today, top of 10 with rain and wind.Good day to spend inside with a good book.Keep having funLove you xxx
Amanda Phillips Smiley face!
Daryl That is amazing!
Daryl Wow! it all just looks incredible and beautiful Carolyn. Very jealous.