Belém, Mosteiro dos Jerónimos,Ermida de São Jerónimo

Ermida de São Jerónimo




I knew from my visit to Padrão dos Descobrimentos that this chapel was special - Vasco da Gama used to pray here before leaving on his long journeys. I also knew that I would find a closed chapel, as it can be visited only on Wednesdays, by prior appointment. It is nice, small, white and humble.

This chapel, built in 1514, the chapel São Jerónimo - Ermida de São Jerónimo (also known as Capela de São Jerónimo or Ermida do Restelo) is located on the outer limits of the land that used to belong to the Hieronymos Friars. It looks almost like a monolith (it is a rectangular cube) and has simple, harmonious proportions and Manueline upper ornamentation.

 After the religious orders were abolished in 1834, the lands were sold off in lots and the chapel was left cut off from the rest of the Belém religious complex.








Belém, Mosteiro dos Jerónimos



Belém is in itself one of the main touristic attractions. Of course I got to visit Torre de Belém, Mosteiro dos Jerónimos and the famous Pasteis de Belém one year ago. I just never got to post anything here. For those interested in history, here are some facts about the monastery.

In 1496 King Manuel I petitioned the Holy See for permission to build a large monastery at the entrance to Lisbon on the banks of the Tagus River (Tejo). Construction began in 1501 and the work was finished about a century later. The reason for building the Jerónimos Monastery lie mainly in the wish of the monarch to reunite the Avis-Beja dynasty, of which he was the first, in a National Pantheon and also in dedication of the Monastery to the Virgin of Belém. The Jerónimos Monastery, as is generally known, was to replace the original church on the same site, dedicated to Santa Maria of Belém (St. Mary of Belém) and where the monks of the Order of Christ gave comfort to passing seamen. King Manuel I poured large sums of money into the building of the Monastery at Belém. A good part of what was called the "the pepper tax" (approximately 5% of the receipts from the spice trade with Africa and the East, the equivalent of 70kg of gold per year) served to pay for the work, which, from the beginning, was strictly dependent on the King.

The Order lived in the Monastery for four centuries until 1834, when religious communities were dissolved and the Monastery cleared. The Monastery passed into the hands of the State and became a college for the pupils of the Casa Pia of Lisbon (a children charity) until around 1940.