Half Day Tour to Discover Belém

In a prominent position on the right bank of the Tagus River, the original monument was erected in 1940 on the occasion of the Portuguese World Exposition to honor the historical figures involved in the Portuguese discoveries. The current replica, in concrete and stone, is later, and was inaugurated in 1960. With 52 meters high, the monument symbolizes a caravel, led by the figure of Infante D. Henrique, followed in procession by 32 historical personalities who contributed to the age of discovery, such as King D. Afonso V (1432-81), Booster of the first discoveries, Vasco da Gama (1460-1524) who discovered the maritime path to India, Pedro Álvares Cabral (1467-1520), discoverer of Brazil and Ferdinand Magellan, who crossed the Atlantic in 1520-21, among others. The land-facing façade is shaped as a cross decorated with the Sword of the Order of Avis, the great financier of travel.

Belém Tower, officially Torre de São Vicente, is located in the parish of Belem, municipality and district of Lisbon, in Portugal. On the right bank of the Tagus River, where Belém beach once existed, it was originally surrounded by water all around its perimeter.

This former Portuguese monastery of the order of S. Jerónimo of the XVII century, has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1983. It is the greatest example of Manueline architecture, also known as the “Portuguese Gothic” and which deserves to highlight the facades, the Church. and the cloisters.

Garden built at the time of the "Exhibition of the Portuguese World" (1940), an event commemorating the 800th anniversary of the Independence of Portugal and the 300th anniversary of the Restoration of Independence, designed by architect Cottineli Telmo. It is also from this time the Light Fountain in the center of the garden.

At the beginning of the 19th century, in Belém, there was a sugarcane refining associated with a small place of varied commerce. As a consequence of the Liberal Revolution that occurred in 1820, all the convents and monasteries of Portugal are closed in 1834 and in an attempt to survive, someone from the Monastery puts on sale in this shop some sweet pastries, quickly called "Pastéis de Belém".