A Morning in Belém

During a 36-hour layover in Lisbon, we made our way west to Belém to visit a special UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Jerónimos Monastery.

The cloister was the star of the show, designed in an architectural style unlike anything I’d seen before. Starting construction around the time of Vasco da Gama’s first voyage in the early 1500s, the architects used the Portuguese late Gothic Manueline style. Decorative ornamentation represented the discoveries brought by Portuguese navigators’ sea voyages. Nautical elements like anchors and rope, and botanical motifs like corn cobs and flowers adorned every corner of the arcades. Diagonal arches and complex groin vaults incorporated Renaissance, Spanish, and Moorish influences. It’s a perfect representation of Portugal’s history.

The cloister wasn’t big but we slowly walked around for over an hour admiring every detail. Each bay was unique and immaculate. Observe the stonework on every window vault — they’re all distinct from one another. What an architectural gem of a place.

Louis Vuitton could never.

---