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Order of Christ (Portugal)

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« Reply #15 on: May 20, 2007, 02:08:46 am »

Art and architecture
 
The Templar round church (late 12th century) is indicated in red, while the manueline nave (early 16th century) is in blue.The castle and Convent of Christ have fine examples of Romanesque, Gothic, Manueline and Renaissance architectural styles.


Castle and walls

The castle of Tomar was built around 1160 on a strategic location, over a hill and near river Nabão. It has an outer defensive wall and a citadel (alcáçova) with a keep inside. The keep, a central tower of residential and defensive functions, was introduced in Portugal by the templars, and the one in Tomar is among of the oldest in the country. Another novelty introduced in Portugal by the templars are the round towers in the outer walls, which are more resistant to attacks than square towers. When the town was founded, most of its residents lived in houses located inside the protective outer walls of the castle.

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« Reply #16 on: May 20, 2007, 02:10:33 am »

Round church

The Romanesque round church of the castle (charola, rotunda) was built in the second half of the 12th century by the Knights Templar. From the outside, the church is a 16-side polygonal structure, with strong buttresses, round windows and a bell-tower. Inside, the round church has a central, octagonal structure, connected by arches to a surrounding gallery (ambulatory). The general shape of the church is modelled after similar round structures in Jerusalem: the Mosque of Omar and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

 
Manueline Window of the Chapter House of the nave of the Convent church (circa 1510).The capitals of the columns are still Romanesque (end of 12th century) and depict vegetal and animal motifs, as well as a Daniel in the Lions' Den scene. The style of the capitals shows the influence of artists working on the Cathedral of Coimbra, which was being built at the same time as the round church.

The interior of the round church is magnificently decorated with late gothic/manueline sculpture and paintings, added during a renovation sponsored by King Manuel I starting in 1499. The pillars of the central octagon and the walls of the ambulatory have polychrome statues of saints and angels under exuberant Gothic canopies, while the walls and ceilings of the ambulatory are painted with Gothic patterns and panels depicting the life of Christ. The paintings are attributed to the workshop of the court painter of Manuel I, the Portuguese Jorge Afonso, while the sculptured decoration is attributed to Flemish sculptor Olivier de Gand and the Spaniard Hernán Muñoz. A magnificent panel depicting the martyrdom of Saint Sebastian, by Portuguese painter Gregório Lopes, was painted for the Round Church and now hangs in the National Museum of Ancient Art in Lisbon.

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« Reply #17 on: May 20, 2007, 02:12:26 am »



Cloister of the Cemetery (first half of 15th century).
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« Reply #18 on: May 20, 2007, 02:13:33 am »

Manueline nave of the church

During the administration of Prince Henry the Navigator (first half of the 15th century), a gothic nave was added to the round church of the Convent, thus turning the round church into a church apse. From 1510 onwards, King Manuel I ordered the rebuilding of the nave in the style of the time, a mix of late gothic and renaissance that would be called Manueline style by art historians. The architects involved were the Portuguese Diogo de Arruda and the Spaniard João de Castilho.
From the outside, the rectangular nave is covered by abundant Manueline motifs, including gargoyles, gothic pinnacles, statues and "ropes" that remind the ones used in the ships during the Age of Discovery, as well as the Cross of the Order of Christ and the emblem of King Manuel I, the armillary sphere. The so-called Window of the Chapter House (Janela do Capítulo), a huge window visible from the Saint Barbara Cloister in the Western façade of the nave, carries most of the typical Manueline motifs: the symbols of the Order of Christ and of Manuel I, and fantastic and unprecedented elaborations of ropes, corals and vegetal motifs. A human figure in the bottom of the window probably represents the designer, Diogo de Arruda. This window of the Convent constitutes one of the masterworks of Manueline decoration. Above is a smaller circular window and a balustrade. The façade is divided by two string courses of knotted ropes. The round angle buttresses are decorated with gigantic garters (alluding to investiture of Manuel I by the Order of the Garter by the English king Henry VII).
The entrance of the church is done through a magnificent lateral portal, also decorated with abundant Manueline motifs and statues of the Virgin with the Child as well as the Prophets of the Old Testament. This portal was designed by João de Castilho around 1530.
In the interior, the Manueline nave is connected to the Romanesque round church by a large arch. The nave is covered by beautiful ribbed vaulting and has a high choir that used to have Manueline choir stalls, unfortunately destroyed by invading Napoleonic troops in the early 19th century. Under the high choir there is a room that used to be the sacristy of the church. Its window is the famous Chapter House Window already mentioned.
 
 
Cloisters

The Convent of Christ has a total of eighth cloisters, built in the 15th and 16th centuries. Some examples:
•   Claustro da Lavagem (Washing Cloister): Two-storey gothic cloister built around 1433 under Henry the Navigator. The garments of the monks used to be washed in this cloister, hence the name.
•   Claustro do Cemitério (Cloister of the Cemetery): Also built under Henry the Navigator, this gothic cloister was the burial site for the knights and monks of the Order. The elegant twin columns of the arches have beautiful capitals with vegetal motifs, and the walls of the ambulatory are decorated with 16th-century tiles. In a manueline tomb (circa 1523) rests Diogo da Gama, brother of navigator Vasco da Gama.
•   Claustro de Santa Bárbara (Saint Barbara's Cloister): Built in the 16th century. The Chapter House Window and the West façade of the manueline nave of the church are visible from this cloister.
•   Claustro de D. João III (Cloister of John III): Started under King John III of Portugal, was finished during the reign of Philip I of Portugal (also King of Spain under the name of Philip II). The first architect was the Spaniard Diogo de Torralva, who began the work in 1557, to be finished in 1591 by Philip II's architect, the Italian Filippo Terzi. This magnificent, two-storey cloister connects the dormitory of the monks to the church, and is considered one of the most important examples of Mannerist architecture in Portugal. The storeys are connected to each other by four elegant helicoidal stairways, located at each corner of the cloisters.

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« Reply #19 on: May 20, 2007, 02:15:37 am »

Belém Tower




Belém Tower, or Torre de Belém, pron. IPA, is a fortified tower located in the Belém district of Lisbon, Portugal.

It was built in the early 16th century in the Portuguese late Gothic style, the Manueline, to commemorate the expedition of Vasco de Gama. This defensive, yet elegant construction has become one of the symbols of the city, a memorial to the Portuguese power during the Age of the Great Discoveries. In 1983 it was classified, together with the nearby Mosteiro dos Jerónimos, as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
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« Reply #20 on: May 20, 2007, 02:17:17 am »

History

The Belém Tower was built both as a ceremonial gateway to Lisbon and as part of a defence system of the entrance of the Tagus river and the Jerónimos Monastery, which was necessary to protect Lisbon. The system was initiated by King John II (1455-1495), who built the Fortress of Cascais and the Fortress of Sao Sebastiao of Caparica. The banks of Belém were protected by a ship, the Grande Nau, replaced by the Tower of Belém during the last five years of the reign of King Manuel I.

The Tower was constructed between 1515 and 1521 by military architect Francisco de Arruda, who had already built several fortresses in Portuguese possessions in Morocco. The influence of the Moorish decorative art is manifest in delicate decorations of the arched windows and balconies and in the ribbed cupolas of the watch towers. Diogo de Boitaca, first architect of the nearby Monastery of the Jerónimos, probably also participated in decorating the building. The machicolation and the battlements are decorated with the rich sculptural ornamentations of the Manueline style.

Originally, the Tower stood on a little island on the right side of the Tagus, surrounded by water. Opposite the beach at Restelo, with the progressive southward creeping of the shore over the years, it is now practically moored to the bank itself. It was dedicated to the patron saint of Lisbon, St Vincent.

In 1580, when Lisbon was invaded by Spanish troops in the course of a struggle for the Portuguese throne, the Tower fought and surrendered to the Duke of Alba. In the following centuries the Tower was mainly used as a prison (with the underground cellars regularly flooding) and as a custom house. Indeed, given its height and lack of dissimulation in the landscape, some historians believe the Tower was mostly intended to serve as a customs outpost.

In the 1840s, under the impulse of romantic writer Almeida Garrett, the Tower of Belém was restored by King Ferdinand II. At this point many neo-manueline decorative elements were added to the building. It was declared a National Monument in 1910.
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« Reply #21 on: May 20, 2007, 02:18:26 am »



Renaissance loggia on the first floor of Belém Tower.
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« Reply #22 on: May 20, 2007, 02:19:37 am »

Art and architecture

The Tower of Belém is considered one of the main works of the Portuguese late gothic, the manueline style. Indeed, the tower is decorated with several typical Manueline motifs like the armillary sphere (the symbol of Manuel I), the cross of the Order of Christ (to which Manuel I belonged), twisted ropes, elaborate rib vaulting and other features. However, some of the decoration dates from the renovation of the 1840s, like the shields with the cross of the military Order of Christ, that decorate the crenellations of the walls, and the decoration of the small cloister of the bastion. The part of the tower facing the river displays the richest decorations.

The Tower of Belém can be divided into two parts, the bastion, with the shape of an irregular hexagon, and the five-story tower itself, located on the north side of bastion. The whole ensemble looks like the bow of a caravel.

 
Casemate of the bastion of Belém Tower.The bastion has a vaulted chamber (the casemate), with openings in the 3.5 m-thick walls for the 17 large-calibre breech-loading cannons. The open centre above the casemate made it easier to dispel the fumes and smokes. The bastion platform could also be used for the emplacement of light-calibre guns. This was the first Portuguese fortification with a two-level gun emplacement and it marks a new development in military architecture. The corners this platform have delicate turrets (guerites) topped by Moorish-looking cupolas. The base of the turrets have images of beasts, including a rhinoceros, considered to be the first sculpture of such an animal in Western European art. This rhinoceros probably depicts the one that Manuel I sent to the Pope in 1515. On the platform, in front of the tower, stands a statue of the Madonna of Belém with Child and a bunch of grapes in her left hand in a richly carved niche with a baldachin in Manueline style. The same turrets occur on the upper platform of the tower.

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« Reply #23 on: May 20, 2007, 02:20:31 am »



Casemate of the bastion of Belém Tower
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« Reply #24 on: May 20, 2007, 02:22:08 am »



Crenelated tower with Manueline decorations

The entrance to the Tower is done through a portal decorated with many Manueline motifs, including Manuel I's badge of honour (an armillary sphere). The whole tower is also decorated with stone twisted ropes, which even tie a knot at the north façade of the building. The upper corners of the tower walls have statues of St Vincent and St Michael, as well as many fine windows with arches. The renaissance-style covered loggia, running the full length of the south side of the first floor of the tower, is particularly delicate. It has a Venetian touch. The many shields that decorate the merlons are neo-manueline.

The tower itself, 35 metres high, has four storeys and a terrace that offers wonderful views of the surrounding landscape. The powder magazine is at water level. The next storeys are reached via a narrow spiral staircase. The next storey was the commander's room. The second storey has covered balconies on each side. Of the tower floors, the most interesting is the chapel of the fourth floor, with a magnificent Manueline rib vault decorated with the armillary sphere and the cross of the military Order of Christ, who participated in many Portuguese conquests. The oratory is on the top floor.




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« Reply #25 on: May 20, 2007, 02:26:37 am »



Close-up look at the Islet and its Castle (courtesy IPPAR)

Castle of Almourol

The Castle of Almourol is situated in a small rocky island, in the middle of the Tagus river, in Portugal. The castle was a Knights Templar stronghold used during the Reconquista.


The conquest of the Castle

The site has been occupied since the antiquity. It is believed it was a primitive lusitanian redoubt and was populated from Roman times until the late Middle Ages. It is certain that in 1129, when Portuguese troops conquered the land, the castle already existed and was called Almorolan
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« Reply #26 on: May 20, 2007, 02:27:53 am »

The Castle and the Knights Templar

The site was given to the Knights Templar, who built a settlement between the Mondego and the Tagus rivers. At the time, they were the ones responsible for the defence of the capital, then Coimbra. The castle has been rebuilt, but it is assumed the architectural characteristics remain largely the same today.

Through an epigraph, placed on the main gate, we know that the reconstruction ended in 1171, two years after the building of the Castle of Tomar. The two castles have several characteristics in common, both built in the same style of military Templar architecture. Both opted for a quadrangular disposal of the spaces. The high walls are protected by nine circular towers, with a jail-tower at the center of the structure.

These last characteristics constitute two of the innovative elements which the Knights Templar brought to military architecture in Portugal. The jail, which appeared first in the 11th century in Tomar, the main Templar defensive redoubt in Portugal, is unusual in pre-Romanic castles. The jail tower of the castle of Almourol had three levels and was significantly modified over time, while it still retains important features. The design of walls with equally placed towers along the walls, was brought to the western Iberian peninsula by the knights.

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« Reply #27 on: May 20, 2007, 02:30:04 am »



Looking towards the Tagus from the Castle of Almourol

The abandonment and the castle's renaissance
 
Looking towards the Tagus from the Castle of AlmourolAfter the Order of the Knights Templar was eradicated in 1307, and the reconquista ended, there was no longer any need for the stronghold, and the Castle of Almourol was abandoned and forgotten. In the 19th century the castle was popularized as an example of chivalric and romantic ideals of the Middle Ages. Many of the original structures were destroyed in a failed attempt to recreate the grand medieval monument, without remaining true to its heritage.


The Castle in the XX century

In the 20th century, the site was adapted the be an Official Residence of the Republic. Important renovations took place during the 1940's and 1950's and some important events took place at the Castle grounds.


Location of the castle

The Castle is located on the Rio Tejo Islet (Ilhota do Rio Tejo) in the municipality of Vila Nova da Barquinha and may be visited without charge. Visitors only pay for an inexpensive boat trip across the river.
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« Reply #28 on: May 20, 2007, 02:32:08 am »

Sagres

The Sagres Point (pron. IPA: ['saɣɾɨʃ]) (Ponta de Sagres, from the Latin Promontorium Sacrum or Holy Promontory), a windswept shelf-like promontory located in the Algarve region, southern Portugal. Next to it lies Cape St. Vincent (Cabo de São Vicente) which forms the southwesternmost tip of Europe.



Fortress
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« Reply #29 on: May 20, 2007, 02:33:07 am »

History

When prince Henry the Navigator started his enterprise, that would start the Portuguese Age of Discoveries, at his Vila do Infante, the Sagres peninsula lacked the necessary requirements for such large undertakings by its scarcity of water (although it was surrounded by the atlantic ocean, it was a promontory after all), minimal agriculture, lack of wood for shipbuilding and a small population. Henry repopulated a village called Terçanabal that was deserted due to the continuous pirate attacks to the coast. The village was situated in a strategic position for his maritime enterprises and was latter called Vila do Infante.

 
FortressHenry the Navigator employ cartographers, such as Jehuda Cresques, to help him chart the coast of Mauretania in the wake of voyages he sent there.

He engaged an expert map and instrument-maker, Jayme of Majorca, so that his captains might have the best nautical information. This probably led to the legend of the Nautical School of Sagres (although a "school" also means a group of followers). There was no center of navigational science or any supposed "observatory", if compared to the modern definition of "observatory" or "navigational center", as Russell makes very clear. The centre of his expeditions was actually at Lagos.

This was a time of many important discoveries: cartography was refined with the use of newly devised instruments, such as an improved astrolabium] and improved sundial, maps were regularly updated and extended, and a revolutionary type of vessel was designed: the caravel.

Prince Henry built a chapel next to his house in 1459, as he began to spend more and more time in Sagres in his later years. He died at Sagres on 13th November 1460.

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