Tower of Belém

My first thought about the Tower of Belém is the walk we undertook to it. Belém is, well, in my American thinking, a suburb. It seems to be a part of greater Lisbon but with its own identity. It was 7.5 km or 4.6 miles from our rental. Looked to be an hour and a half walk, one way.  We looked at it as a good long walk, a great form of exercise. One of those all-in-one days, a very big one.

LxFactory

A friend had recommended we try to check out what is called the LxFactory. It turned out to be halfway between our rental and our destination, so that seemed pretty perfect as a stop.  We anticipated a perfect place to rest, have a snack, a bathroom break, and get to see the work of local artisans. It is a redevelopment. A group of historical, industrial buildings and housing that has become a foodie and artsy complex. 

The route is pretty easy to follow. I thought perhaps we’d find a section of the path as an inbetween space, mostly open space between built areas. It was actually a continuous city walk, but nice. It is hard to not have a nice walk with interesting, old buildings to see.  Also found interesting tiles, but not on buildings, on the side of roadways and on and off ramps. Beautiful tile decorates everything here, it seems.

The LxFactory wasn’t quite what we were expecting. Certainly, it is fabulous that they have endeavored to make use of an old factory complex. The cafes are great and as a midway stop for a bathroom break and refueling, it was ideal.  Unfortunately, from what we read about it we were hoping for something akin to an artist studio haven. A place where artists of all kinds have studios/shops. We felt we’d stumbled into hipsterville.

All the shops downstairs and along the street seemed quite touristy. I would describe them as kitschy souvenir shops that are not our cup of tea.  Upstairs there did seem to be some studios, but few were open – I guess we were early. There was one woman who happened to open up her jewelry studio as we were on our way out. I had been looking for some small stud opal earrings and she had exactly that, so I did buy a pair. Moving on.

A bit further on, we stumbled upon one palace in a dilapidated state. I say palace because it was definitely in the ‘mansion’ category, set about 100 yards back with a grand entrance, fenced around with entry gates, and what must have been elaborate landscaping now overgrown. It seemed to have indications someone might be attempting some kind of recovery.  

After some research, I actually found a couple of articles about it that are fascinating. We passed several very large and stately places and it turns out this street, the Rua di Junquiera, was popular with the well-to-do back in the day. The one that caught our eye is the Quinta das Aguias, quinta means country home. In the article it is referred to as a farm which seems appropriate since there is a lot of space inside the wall that encircles it. I found a satellite view from Google Maps (cause when I want to know, I want to know) and it is much larger than I realized from the street.  I believe the palace, or part of it, was built around 1713.  So much to discover if you just start walking.

When we arrived in the Belém area, first we encountered several marinas along the Tagus River full of moored boats. We needed to walk around them and, always easily amused by things, we enjoyed watching the very large fish swimming close to the boats. There was also this very strange black thing that we still haven’t identified swimming around. Perhaps some kind of catfish as it seemed to like being on the bottom. It was smallish, though with trailing fins.  A mystery.

We, along with others, also got a lot of enjoyment out of watching a group of youngsters in a sailing class.  It was so impressive watching them learn to turn the boats, hopping from side to side (yeah, I’m no boater and don’t know the right terms).

A Little Dive into History

Actually, it seemed our approach to the Tower of Belém was a series of gems. The next one was the Padrão dos Descrobrimentos, Monument of the Discoveries. Conceived in 1939, the monument in place today was completed in 1960. It is something and you can find diagrams online that identify each person on either side of it, with Henry the Navigator in the front.

So, here, because I’ve had a lot of positive feedback on folks enjoying my dives into what I’m learning about history, I’m going to share a bit.  Many of you may know that Trev is a ravenous reader and knows a lot about geopolitics as a result. He was telling me about the long standing treaty that exists between the U.K. and Portugal. Knowing that a lot of Brits have settled in Portugal and noting there seems to be an embrace of the English language here, this all seemed logical.

Officially, it is the Anglo-Portuguese Treaty of 1373, also called the Treaty of London on a U.K. Government site (and they should know). It has been periodically reinforced throughout history as an alliance of peace and friendship. In fact, just recently in June 2023 the governments of both countries celebrated its 650th anniversary. It is the longest alliance of two countries in history. Trev mentioned that they joined up over a mutual dislike of Spain and France, but hey, still kinda gives you goosebumps that some things can last.  The alliance has lasted through wars, colonization and empire building, and industrialization.

Circling back to Henry the Navigator, he was the third son of King Joao I and Phillipa of Lancaster. When I read “Lancaster” I knew I was reading about an arranged marriage. Indeed, she was married off in 1387, and surprise, surprise, it played a part in that exact treaty. I have a bit of confusion as the Treaty of Windsor was signed in 1387 when they married. Seems that this was just an add on to the original and put the exclamation point on this alliance; with the sources I found using words like “cemented”, “ratified”, and ”the final step”.

Kind of cool to learn about these linkages in history. Henry the Navigator was only 21 in 1415 when the Portuguese conquered, quite brutally, Ceuta in Morocco. The riches they found there whet their appetite for more and Henry was all about more conquest in Africa. He seems to have been the engine that helped get that started. He died in 1460, long before they made it around the Cape of Good Hope in 1488. 

It is possible to actually go up into the monument. But the sun was blazing, we were hot and didn’t want to stand in line, and were eager to keep going. At the top there is no doubt an incredible view of the mouth of the Tagus and the Atlantic Ocean beyond. There is also a view looking down to a windrose. This is a spectacular map in colored stone of the globe showing the points of Portuguese conquest and colonization and when they arrived there, all in their quest for the spice islands.  I only took a photo of the plaque as it wasn’t possible to get a good photo at close range with all the people around and on it. If you are curious, you can find photos on the web.

On to the Tower

Moving on from the Monument of the Discoveries, we continued a bit further west to the Tower of Belém.  Its official name is Torre de São Vicente de Belém or the Tower of Saint Vincent – the patron saint of Lisbon. It is hard to describe it. Impressive, imposing, and regal. It seems both sturdy and also battered a bit by time. Makes sense after 500 years.

Constructed between 1514 and 1520, it was built to commemorate Vasco De Gama’s historic voyage in 1498 to India as well as provide defense to the port of Lisbon further up the Tagus. It provided a ceremonious place to send off explorers, quite literally as the Tower sits at the river’s edge and during high tide seems to sit in the river.  I don’t know if this is true, but given the height of the large plaza/balcony, I can imagine walkways over to ships waiting to sail.

And a Monastery

Across the street (which sounds ridiculous to say when you are talking about these sites) is the Jeronimos Monastery. Along with the Tower of Belém, these were designated in 1983 as UNESCO World Heritage Sites.  Understandable when you think that the explorers that walked this space and the expeditions that left from here changed the course of human history on this planet. Certainly, they were brutal in their conquest and involved in slavery.

The monastery was built on the site of a deteriorating church where De Gama and his men prayed the night before they left on their expedition. The King of Portugal initiated construction of the monastery in 1502 with the desire that the monks would continue to provide support to seafarers, specifically to offer blessings on the explorers before they left in the years that followed.

Again, while you can enter the Tower of Belém we decided to pass.  The line was a very long one standing in the blazing sun. We were fairly tired and hot from the long walk and there were very few people enjoying the grassy area around it. So we found a shady place to sit and admire it while hydrating.  We considered visiting the monastery, but it was going to involve crossing a lot of major roadways. It also seemed they were setting up for some big event with tents on the front lawn. It was time to head back.

The Return

Happy to have seen these sites, we began the walk back. Instead of following the same route interior to the neighborhoods, we decided to follow the river back. We weren’t sure how far we would get, but as it turns out it took us all the way to the bottom of our neighborhood. Pave in one form or another the entire way. 

One site we had seen on the walk to Belém from a distance was the MAAT – the Museum of Architecture, Art and Technology.  From our riverside approach, the iconic sweeping white structure is quite a site. On this very sunny, very bright, and very hot day, it was gleaming. It is easy to walk the ramp up onto the roof (no really, it almost invites you up) and from there you can the bridge that resembles the Golden Gate.

Looking back from where we’d walked, you can easily see the Monument to Discoveries. If you look close, just peaking out on the left below the monument “bow” is the Tower of Belém. They seemed to be in quite a precise line. That entire waterfront is quite developed and in places, there are some pretty posh cafes and eateries.

I feel I’d be remiss if I didn’t admit something here. We were in a rush to get out of the apartment in the morning knowing we needed to get going on the day. Wouldn’t you know, this is a day when I forgot to sunscreen up my legs. So…. I ended up with a bit of heat rash and was not a pleasant person on the walk back. As a result, I didn’t enjoy it (and Trev didn’t either because I was stewing, literally and emotionally) and just wanted to make it back to our rental to cool down.

While the day ended a bit rough, I don’t regret it at all. It was wonderful. And as a public service announcement, always put on sunscreen everywhere before you head out for a touristy day.