A Tribute to the Age of Discoveries and Exploration: The Hieronymites Monastery

Manueline exterior of the Hieronymites Monastery in Lisbon, Portugal. Alvesgaspar/CC BY-SA 3.0

Imagine a place filled with the hopes and prayers for seamen and explorers of a great seafaring country. This place is the Hieronymites Monastery, or Jerónimosv Monastery (“Mosteiro dos Jerónimos” in Portuguese), the most notable Portuguese monastery of the 16th century.

The Hieronymites, an order of hermit monks, initially occupied the monastery, which was dedicated to St. Jerome. Their role was to pray for the king, as well as for navigators and explorers. The monks also gave spiritual assistance to seamen who came to the monastery.

The Portuguese Age of Exploration

Portuguese navigators and explorers started their journeys to new lands on the banks of the Tagus River, near the monastery, in the Lisbon parish of Belém, Portugal. These expeditions changed the world as people knew it in the 15th and 16th centuries.

Bartolomeu Dias explored beyond the southern tip of Europe; Ferdinand Magellan was the first European to sail across the Pacific Ocean; Pedro Álvares Cabral discovered Brazil; and Henry the Navigator mapped new parts of the world.

"Vasco da Gama leaving the port of Lisbon, Portugal, for India in 1497" by Roque Gameiro. National Library of Portugal. Public Domain

Vasco da Gama, Portugal’s most famous explorer, departed from the Tagus River and discovered a maritime route to India in 1498. He was the first European to link Asia with the West, and, in doing so, he consolidated Portugal’s dominance over the sea routes.

Symbol of Portuguese Seafaring Greatness

Portugal’s great explorers, especially Henry the Navigator and da Gama, inspired the construction of the monastery as a symbol of the Portuguese Age of Discoveries and a prosperous historical period.

Henry the Navigator erected a church dedicated to Saint Mary of Belém in the 15th century. King Manuel I, regent from 1495 to 1521 and the first monarch of the Avis dynasty, commissioned a monastery on the site in 1496.

Manuel wanted to honor Henry’s memory and show his devotion to the Virgin Mary and St. Jerome. He also wanted to honor da Gama, who embodied the importance of the discoveries and supported the king. Da Gama is buried at the monastery.

The monastery took more than 100 years to build. While construction started in 1501, it stopped temporarily after the king’s death in 1521. Architects worked on sections of the monastery until 1580. Construction was completely abandoned when Spain ruled over Portugal as a result of the Iberian Union, which took place between 1580 and 1640, as there were no heirs to the Portuguese throne and the closest heir was Spanish royalty.

Monastery entrance to main church and cloister. Public Domain

Once Portugal regained its independence in 1640, the construction continued. A number of different architects worked on the monastery throughout the years, including French-born architect Diogo de Boitaca and Portuguese architects João de Castilho and Diogo de Torralva.

Unique Architecture and Nautical Motifs

The monastery’s architecture is unique to Portugal, as it bridges the Gothic, later Renaissance, and Mannerist styles. It resembles other European Gothic monasteries, with its church, cloister, library, gardens, and grand halls. This architecture is inspired by the Flamboyant Gothic style of Northern Europe and also has Moorish influences, when the Iberian Peninsula was liberated from the Moors.

It also incorporates Manueline (“Manuelino” in Portuguese) architecture, a lavish, early 16th-century decorative style unique to Portugal that originated during the reign of Manuel I.

Manuel supported the Portuguese exploration of the Atlantic Ocean and helped develop Portuguese commerce. During his reign, Brazil was discovered, Portugal established a monopoly over maritime trade routes, and da Gama discovered the Indian maritime route in 1498.

As Portuguese wealth depended on the sea trade during the king’s reign, the Manueline style celebrates the prosperity of his reign through the use of nautical motifs. The monastery incorporates several nautical elements. The carved moldings resemble coral, barnacles, algae, and seaweed. The arches are round and semi-circular, while the windows and doors have carvings of navigational instruments, crosses, anchors, the heraldic shields of Portugal and the royal family, and ship equipment such as buoys, stone cables, and ropes.

Manueline ornamentation in the cloisters of Hieronymites Monastery, Belém, Lisbon, Portugal. Marshall Henrie/CC BY-SA 3.0

One of the most striking examples of Manueline architecture in the monastery is the side entrance door, built between 1516 and 1518 by de Castilho based on Boitaca’s design. This door is one of the most detailed portals of the Manueline period. It’s 105 feet high, shrine-like, and has religious figures such as the Archangel Michael, guardian of Manuel’s kingdom, and Saint Mary of Belém, the patron saint of seafarers and protector saint of sailors.

The door also has detailed Manueline stonework and carvings depicting the life of St. Jerome with a relief of Henry the Navigator in the center of the door. Along with the lavish carvings and Renaissance religious elements, there’s the coat of arms of Manuel I and the armillary sphere.

Tombs of Portuguese Royalty

Portuguese kings funded seafaring expeditions during this exciting time in history. Their role was key in the discovery of new lands and for Portugal’s wealth and power.

Over the years, the Portuguese entombed their royalty in the monastery, starting, not surprisingly with the most important ruler of the age, of course, Manuel I and his wife. His son, King João III, was also key to Portugal’s importance in the world. Under his reign, Brazil was settled, and Portuguese sea dominance expanded to the Indian Ocean. João is buried at the monastery, along with his wife.

The country’s modern leaders also regard it as an honor to be associated with the monastery. Former Portuguese President Jorge Sampaio had his funeral there in 2021.

Portuguese Poets and the Age of Discoveries

Two of the most famous Portuguese poets, Luís de Camões and Fernando Pessoa, have their tombs at the monastery, as both helped to immortalize the Portuguese Age of Discoveries through their acclaimed works.

Manuel commissioned Camões to participate in da Gama’s first voyage to the Indies and to write about it. The poet did this in his famous epic poem, “Lusiads,” one of the most important pieces of Portuguese literature. Written in the Homeric style, this poem is the foundation of Portuguese culture, as it tells the journey of da Gama, but also combines classical mythology and Portuguese history. This epic poem shapes and influences Portuguese national identity to this day.

Pessoa contributed to the national narrative as Portugal’s most famous author of the 20th century. His epic poem “Mensagem” is a rewriting of the “Lusiads.” Pessoa’s poem celebrates this prosperous period while incorporating the history of Portugal between the 16th and the 20th centuries.

World Heritage Site

Over the past five centuries, the Hieronymites Monastery has attracted travelers, artists, and chroniclers from all over the world. In the 19th century, part of the monastery’s structure became Lisbon’s Maritime Museum, showcasing Portuguese maritime history from the 15th century to the 21st century.

In 1907, the Hieronymites Monastery was designated a national monument, and in 1983, UNESCO declared the monastery a World Heritage Site.

The Tower of Belém in Lisbon, Portugal, is one of the most representative examples of the Manueline style. Daniel Feliciano/CC BY-SA 2.5

Most of its structure was preserved, miraculously, after the Lisbon earthquake of 1755, which destroyed 90 percent of Lisbon’s buildings. The tower of Belém (another tribute to this period) is another example of Portuguese architecture, as well as a reminder of Portuguese maritime discoveries.

According to UNESCO: “The Monastery of the Hieronymites and Tower of Belém are a unique and exceptional testimony to a 15th- and 16th-century civilization and culture. They reflect the power, knowledge, and courage of the Portuguese people at a time when they consolidated their presence and domain of intercontinental trade routes.”

The monastery still represents an integral part of Portugal’s identity, as it epitomizes a historic time that Portuguese people are proud of.