Description of the attraction
The Torri de Belém Tower was originally conceived as a five-tiered lighthouse fortress on the Tagus River. It was built in 1515-1521 under Manuel I. From here the Portuguese sailors sailed to discover new trade routes. During the Napoleonic wars, the building was half destroyed, but completely reconstructed in 1845. In the bastion dedicated to the Virgin Mary, whose patronage brings good luck, the image of the Blessed Virgin in a sea shell was kept.
The tower, built in the Manueline style, is richly decorated on the outside with images of ropes, openwork balconies, Arabian-style turrets and battlements. The balustrade of the bypass gallery of the fortress wall is decorated with the coats of arms of the knightly order.
More recently, the Tower served as a prison and an arms depot. A magnificent view opens up from the top of the tower.
Description added:
Turchinsky S. F. 27.02.2012
Initially, the tower was located almost in the middle of the river. The tidal wave caused by the 1775 earthquake brought so much sand that the tower was almost on the shore. There is information that chains with tensioning mechanisms departed from it to protect the entrance to the port water area.
