Belém, Lisbon
Belém Tower, Torre de Belém
In the late 15th century, King John II had designed a defence system for the mouth of the Tagus that depended on the fortresses of Cascais and São Sebastião (or Torre Velha) in Caparica on the south side of the river.[5][7] These fortresses did not completely protect the river's mouth, and further protection was required.[7] In his "Chronicle of John II" (Chronica de D. Joao II), which appeared in 1545,[8]the author Garcia de Resende affirmed the king's opinion that the defences of Lisbon were inadequate, and that he had insisted on building fortifications along the entrance to the River Tagus to supplement the existing defences.[9] To this end, he ordered the "making of a strong fort", but died before any plans were drawn. King Manuel I of Portugal revisited the proposal twenty years later and ordered the construction of a military fortification on the northern margin of the Tagus at Belém.[7] In 1513, Lourenço Fernandes wrote a letter to his friends referring to the king's intention of constructing a tower near Restelo Velho, having determined it to be essential.
The project was started on a basaltic rock outcrop a short distance from the riverbank, using some of the stone being collected to build the Monastery of Santa Maria de Belém. The tower was designed by military architect Francisco de Arruda,[10] named "Master of the works of the Belém stronghold" by King Manuel,[11] and in 1516 he began receiving 763 blocks and 504 stones for its construction, delivered by Diogo Rodrigues, treasurer for the project. As construction progressed, a man-of-war called the Grande Nau (Great Ship), a heavily armed, 1000–ton ship continued to guard the estuary at the mouth of the Tagus until the fort's completion.[12][13]
The building was finished in 1519, just two years before Manuel's death, and Gaspar de Paiva was temporarily stationed to command the fortress;[14] his commission was made permanent on 15 September 1521, when he was appointed the first Captain-General, or alcalde, and the fortress was named the Castle of St Vincent (Castelo de São Vicente de Belém),[9][15] in honour of the patron saint of Lisbon.
The Belém Tower is situated on the northern bank of the Tagus River in the civil parish of Santa Maria de Belém, municipality of Lisbon, accessible at the western end of the Avenida de Brasília by a small bridge. Nearby are the Jeronimos Monastery to the east and Fort Bom Sucesso {Forte do Bom Sucesso} to the west), while to the north are the tower Governor's residence, the old Governor's residence for the Bom Successo fort, and the Chapel of São Jerónimo.
The tower is isolated along the riverbank, between the dock of Bom Sucesso and Pedrouços, on a basaltic outcropping of rocks belonging to the geomorphological volcanic complex of Lisboa-Mafra.[18] 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.[5][6][19]
The Belém Tower was built from a beige-white limestone local to the Lisbon area and thereabouts called lioz.[20] The building is divided into two parts: the bastion and the four story tower located on the north side of the bastion.
The 16th-century tower is considered one of the principal works of the Portuguese Late Gothic Manueline style.[4][19] This is especially apparent in its elaborate rib vaulting, crosses of the Order of Christ, armillary spheres and twisted rope, common to the nautically inspired organic Manueline style.[4][6]
