2. • Belem Tower is a defense tower built in the Age of
the Discoveries (when defending the city was
really important) in tribute to the patron saint of
the city, Saint Vicente.
3. In order to enhance the defense of Lisbon, King João
II drew up a plan that consisted of forming a three-
fortress-defence on the Tagus estuary. It formed a triangle
and on each angle, a fortress was constructed: Cascais
fortress on the right bank, S. Sebastião da Caparica on the
left bank and Belém Tower in the water.
4. • The tower is replete with
Manueline decoration, symbols
of the King’s power: cables
encircling the building and
terminating in elegant knots,
armillary spheres, crosses of the
Military Order of Christ and
naturalistic elements such as
the rhinoceros, the first such
representation in stone known
in Europe.
5. … with the construction of new, more modern and more
effective defences, the Tower of Belém lost its role as defender of the
entrance of the River Tagus.
As centuries passed, new functions were given to the tower. It was a
customs control point, a telegraph station and even a lighthouse.
6. It also served as a political prison, its storerooms transformed
into dungeons, since the time when Philip II of Spain became
king of Portugal (1580) and during periods of political unrest.
Finally, in 1983 UNESCO classified it as a World Heritage
Site.
7. • We think you should visit Belem Tower because
it´s a beautiful monument that throughout the
times had an important role in our history,
especially in the portuguese discoveries and it
represents a very rich and gorgeous time in our
history.
