The main atractions are the TOWER OF BELEM, THE MONUMENT TO THE DISCOVERIERS and the JERÓNIMOS MONASTERY.

BELEM is a suburb of Lisbon located on the river Tagus about 6km from the city center. Belém is famous as the place from which many of the great Portuguese explorers set off on their voyages of discovery. In particular, it is the place from which Vasco De Gama departed for India in 1497.

The Belem Tower is the symbol of Lisbon. This imposing bastion was constructed between 1515 and 1521. The tower was built on a basalt island but is now nearly swallowed up by the river bank. What is surprising for this military construction is the large amount of decorations.

The Tower was originally used for controlling the navigation on the river.

From the terrace you can see the famous 25th of April bridge.

This bridge has the longest central span in Europe (1013m/3323ft), longer than San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge.

This is the replica of the small wood and fabric plane that in 1921 made the first flight between Lisbon and Rio de Janiero.

There are no guardrails for parking near the river, so better watch the sign!

A monument celebrating the early explorers was erected in 1960. The structure is patterned after the prow of a ship. It is called the Monument to the Discoveries. Heading up the monument is Prince Henry the Navigator who holds a small ship in his hands and Vasco da Gama who was the first to reach India by boat.

The side view of the monument is in the shape of a cross.

Jeronimos is a majestic monastery, built in the 16th century, to celebrate the discoveries of new worlds. It is one of the best examples of Manueline architecture, a Portuguese style in transition between gothic and renaissance. The monastery has a large and very ornate church.

The church entry has a lot of statues and decorations.Today this entrance is closed, access to the building is through the rear side.

Church interior with tall and slender columns.

The columns are covered with elaborate decorations.

The tomb of Vasco da Gama is inside the church.

One of the side chapels.

The monastery has several large rooms. Today some of them house the museum of archeology and a small museum of objects made from gold.

Interior courtyard of the Monastery.

Twin horses statue in a park in front of the monastery.Sitting in the sun all day and looking at the water, they should be very thirsty.

The National Tile (Azulejo) Museum is located in the Convent of Madre de Deus, which dates from 1509. The word “azulejo” means ceramic tile.The convent also has a large and very decorated church.

Portugal has an old tradition in manufacturing beautiful tiles. Many houses have the exterior walls covered with multicolor tiles.

Inside the museum you can see how the tiles are made and how they are painted and glazed. There are also numerous picture-like tile assemblies decorating the walls.

The ceiling of the church is like a portrait gallery.

There are also many other beautiful art objects inside the museum.

This ends our visit to Lisbon. If you will go there to visit, who knows, I may also pop out to greet you!

Pictures and presentation byDan Calistrat dcalistrat@aol.com