Architecture of Portugal - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Architecture of Portugal refers to the architecture

Architecture

Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...

practised in the territory of present-day Portugal

Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

since before the foundation of the country in the 12th century. The term may also refer to buildings created under Portuguese influence or by Portuguese architects in other parts of the world, particularly in the Portuguese Empire

Portuguese Empire

The Portuguese Empire , also known as the Portuguese Overseas Empire or the Portuguese Colonial Empire , was the first global empire in history...

.

Portuguese architecture, like all aspects of Portuguese culture

Culture of Portugal

The culture of Portugal is the result of a complex flow of different civilizations during the past Millennia. From prehistoric cultures, to its Pre-Roman civilizations , passing through its contacts with the Phoenician-Carthaginian world, the Roman period , the...

, is marked by the history of the country

History of Portugal

The history of Portugal, a European and an Atlantic nation, dates back to the Early Middle Ages. In the 15th and 16th centuries, it ascended to the status of a world power during Europe's "Age of Discovery" as it built up a vast empire including possessions in South America, Africa, Asia and...

and the several peoples that have settled and influenced the current Portuguese territory. These include Romans

Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....

, Germanic peoples

Migration Period

The Migration Period, also called the Barbarian Invasions , was a period of intensified human migration in Europe that occurred from c. 400 to 800 CE. This period marked the transition from Late Antiquity to the Early Middle Ages...

and Arabs

Al-Andalus

Al-Andalus was the Arabic name given to a nation and territorial region also commonly referred to as Moorish Iberia. The name describes parts of the Iberian Peninsula and Septimania governed by Muslims , at various times in the period between 711 and 1492, although the territorial boundaries...

, as well as the influence from the main European artistic centres from which were introduced to the broad architectural styles: Romanesque

Romanesque architecture

Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of Medieval Europe characterised by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque architecture, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 10th century. It developed in the 12th century into the Gothic style,...

, Gothic

Gothic architecture

Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....

, Renaissance

Renaissance architecture

Renaissance architecture is the architecture of the period between the early 15th and early 17th centuries in different regions of Europe, demonstrating a conscious revival and development of certain elements of ancient Greek and Roman thought and material culture. Stylistically, Renaissance...

, Baroque

Baroque architecture

Baroque architecture is a term used to describe the building style of the Baroque era, begun in late sixteenth century Italy, that took the Roman vocabulary of Renaissance architecture and used it in a new rhetorical and theatrical fashion, often to express the triumph of the Catholic Church and...

and Neoclassicism

Neoclassical architecture

Neoclassical architecture was an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century, manifested both in its details as a reaction against the Rococo style of naturalistic ornament, and in its architectural formulas as an outgrowth of some classicizing...

. Among the main local manifestations of Portuguese architecture are the Manueline

Manueline

The Manueline, or Portuguese late Gothic, is the sumptuous, composite Portuguese style of architectural ornamentation of the first decades of the 16th century, incorporating maritime elements and representations of the discoveries brought from the voyages of Vasco da Gama and Pedro Álvares Cabral...

, the exuberant Portuguese version of late Gothic; and the Pombaline style

Pombaline style

The Pombaline style was a Portuguese architectural style of the 18th century, named after Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo, the first Marquês de Pombal who was instrumental in reconstructing Lisbon after the earthquake of 1755. Pombal supervised the plans drawn up by the military engineers Manuel...

, a mix of late Baroque and Neoclassicism that developed after the Great Lisbon Earthquake of 1755.

In the 20th century, Portuguese architecture has produced a number of renowned personalities like Fernando Távora

Fernando Távora

Fernando Luís Cardoso de Meneses de Tavares e Távora, simply known as Fernando Távora , was a renowned Portuguese architect and professor....

, Eduardo Souto de Moura

Eduardo Souto de Moura

-Life and career:Souto de Moura was born in Porto, and studied sculpture before switching to architecture at the School of Fine Arts of the University of Porto, the current FAUP - Faculdade de Arquitectura da Universidade do Porto, and receiving his degree in 1980. From 1974 to 1979 he worked with...

and, especially, Álvaro Siza.

Early architecture

Megaliths

The earliest examples of architectural activity in Portugal date from the Neolithic

Neolithic

The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...

and consist of structures associated with Megalith culture. The Portuguese hinterland is dotted with a large number of dolmens (called antas or dólmens), tumuli (mamoas) and menhirs. The Alentejo region is particularly rich in megalithic monuments, like the notable Anta Grande do Zambujeiro

Anta Grande do Zambujeiro

Anta Grande do Zambujeiro is a megalithic monument located in Nossa Senhora da Tourega, near Valverde, in the municipality of Évora, considered one the biggest such structure in the Iberian Peninsula.-History:...

, located near Évora

Évora

Évora is a municipality in Portugal. It has total area of with a population of 55,619 inhabitants. It is the seat of the Évora District and capital of the Alentejo region. The municipality is composed of 19 civil parishes, and is located in Évora District....

. Standing stones can be found isolated or forming circular arrays (stone circle

Stone circle

A stone circle is a monument of standing stones arranged in a circle. Such monuments have been constructed across the world throughout history for many different reasons....

s or cromlech

Cromlech

Cromlech is a Brythonic word used to describe prehistoric megalithic structures, where crom means "bent" and llech means "flagstone". The term is now virtually obsolete in archaeology, but remains in use as a colloquial term for two different types of megalithic monument.In English it usually...

s). The Almendres Cromlech

Almendres Cromlech

The Cromlech of the Almendres megalithic complex , located near Guadalupe, in the civil parish of Nossa Senhora de Guadalupe, municipality of Évora, is the largest existing group of structured menhirs in the Iberian Peninsula, and one of the largest in Europe...

, also located near Évora, is the largest of the Iberian Peninsula, containing nearly 100 menhirs arranged in two elliptical arrays on an East-West orientation.

Pre-Roman villages

Pre-historic fortified villages dating from the Chalcolithic are found along the Tagus river like that of Vila Nova de São Pedro

Vila Nova de São Pedro

The Castro of Vila Nova de São Pedro is a Chalcolithic archaeological site in the civil parish of Vila Nova de São Pedro, municipality of Azambuja, in the Portuguese Estremadura area of Lezíria do Tejo. It is important for the discovery of thousands of arrowheads within its fortified settlement,...

, near Cartaxo

Cartaxo

Cartaxo is a municipality in Portugal with a total area of 158.2 km² and a total population of 24,465 inhabitants. The city itself has a population of 9,507.The municipality is composed of 8 parishes, and is located Santarém District....

, and the Castro do Zambujal, near Torres Vedras

Torres Vedras

Torres Vedras is a city and a municipality in the district of Lisbon, Portugal, about 50 km north of Lisbon. It belongs to the Oeste subregion and the Centro region.The municipality covers an area of 405.89 km² distributed over 20 freguesias...

These sites were occupied in the period around the years 2500-1700 BC and were surrounded by stone walls and towers, a sign of the conflictivity of the time.

Starting around the 6th century BC, Northwest Portugal, as well as neighbouring Galicia in Spain, saw the development of the Castro culture

Castro culture

Castro culture is the archaeological term for naming the Celtic archaeological culture of the northwestern regions of the Iberian Peninsula from the end of the Bronze Age until it was subsumed in local Roman culture...

(cultura castreja). This region was dotted with hillfort villages (called citânias or cividades) that for the most part continued to exist under Roman domination, when the area became incorporated into the province of Gallaecia

Gallaecia

Gallaecia or Callaecia, also known as Hispania Gallaecia, was the name of a Roman province and an early Mediaeval kingdom that comprised a territory in the north-west of Hispania...

. Notable archaeological sites are the Citânia de Sanfins, near Paços de Ferreira

Paços de Ferreira

Paços de Ferreira is a city in Portugal. It is sometimes also called Capital do Móvel , since the city is home to numerous furniture manufacturing plants. Besides older Portuguese furniture companies, Portugal's major industrial operations of IKEA are also located there...

, Citânia de Briteiros, near Guimarães

Guimarães

Guimarães Municipality is located in northwestern Portugal in the province of Minho and in the Braga District. It contains the city of Guimarães.The present Mayor is António Magalhães Silva, elected by the Socialist Party.-Parishes:-Economy:...

, and the Cividade de Terroso

Cividade de Terroso

Cividade de Terroso was an important city of the Castro culture in North-western Iberian Peninsula, located in Póvoa de Varzim, Portugal.The city, known in the Middle Ages as Civitas Teroso, was built at the top of Cividade Hill, in the parish of Terroso, in Póvoa de Varzim, less than 5 km...

, near Póvoa do Varzim. For defensive reasons, these hillforts were built over elevated terrain and were surrounded by rings of stone walls (Terroso had three wall rings). Houses were round in shape with walls made of stone without mortar

Mortar (masonry)

Mortar is a workable paste used to bind construction blocks together and fill the gaps between them. The blocks may be stone, brick, cinder blocks, etc. Mortar becomes hard when it sets, resulting in a rigid aggregate structure. Modern mortars are typically made from a mixture of sand, a binder...

, while the roofs were made of grass shoots. Baths were built in some of them, like in Briteiros and Sanfins.

Roman period

Architecture developed significantly in the 2nd century BC with the arrival of the Romans

Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....

, who called the Iberian Peninsula Hispania

Hispania

Another theory holds that the name derives from Ezpanna, the Basque word for "border" or "edge", thus meaning the farthest area or place. Isidore of Sevilla considered Hispania derived from Hispalis....

. Conquered settlements and villages were often modernised following Roman models, with the building of a forum

Forum (Roman)

A forum was a public square in a Roman municipium, or any civitas, reserved primarily for the vending of goods; i.e., a marketplace, along with the buildings used for shops and the stoas used for open stalls...

, streets, theatres, temples, baths, aqueducts and other public buildings. An efficient array of roads and bridges was built to link the cities and other settlements.

Braga

Braga

Braga , a city in the Braga Municipality in northwestern Portugal, is the capital of the Braga District, the oldest archdiocese and the third major city of the country. Braga is the oldest Portuguese city and one of the oldest Christian cities in the World...

(Bracara Augusta) was the capital of the Gallaecia

Gallaecia

Gallaecia or Callaecia, also known as Hispania Gallaecia, was the name of a Roman province and an early Mediaeval kingdom that comprised a territory in the north-west of Hispania...

province and still has vestiges of public baths, a public fountain (called Idol's Fountain

Idol's Fountain

The Fountain of the Idol is a Roman fountain located in the civil parish of São José de São Lázaro, in the municipality of Braga, northern Portugal...

) and a theatre. Évora

Évora

boasts a well-preserved Roman temple

Roman Temple of Évora

The Roman Temple of Évora is an ancient edifice in the city of Évora, Portugal. The temple is part of the historical centre of the city, classified as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO...

, probably dedicated to the cult of Emperor Augustus. A Roman bridge crosses the Tâmega River by the city of Chaves (Aquae Flaviae
Aquae Flaviae
Aquæ Flaviæ is the ancient Roman name for the current city of Chaves, Portugal.-Pre-roman ocupation:The city was a center of pre-roman occupation, being the main town of the Turodi people.-Roman domain:...

). Lisbon

Lisbon

Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...

(Olissipo) has the remains of a theatre in the Alfama

Alfama

Alfama is the oldest district of Lisbon, spreading on the slope between the Castle of Lisbon and the Tejo river. Its name comes from the Arabic Al-hamma, meaning fountains or baths...

neighbourhood.

The best-preserved remains of a Roman village are those of Conimbriga

Conímbriga

Conímbriga is one of the largest Roman settlements in Portugal, and is classified as a National Monument. Conímbriga lies 16 km from Coimbra and less than 2 km from Condeixa-a-Nova. The site also has a museum that displays objects found by archaeologists during their excavations,...

, located near Coimbra

Coimbra

Coimbra is a city in the municipality of Coimbra in Portugal. Although it served as the nation's capital during the High Middle Ages, it is better-known for its university, the University of Coimbra, which is one of the oldest in Europe and the oldest academic institution in the...

. The excavations revealed city walls, baths, the forum, an aqueduct, an amphitheatre

Amphitheatre

An amphitheatre is an open-air venue used for entertainment and performances.There are two similar, but distinct, types of structure for which the word "amphitheatre" is used: Ancient Roman amphitheatres were large central performance spaces surrounded by ascending seating, and were commonly used...

, and houses for the middle classes (insulae
Insulae
In Roman architecture, an insula was a kind of apartment building that housed most of the urban citizen population of ancient Rome, including ordinary people of lower- or middle-class status and all but the wealthiest from the upper-middle class...

), as well as luxurious mansions (domus
Domus
In ancient Rome, the domus was the type of house occupied by the upper classes and some wealthy freedmen during the Republican and Imperial eras. They could be found in almost all the major cities throughout the Roman territories...

) with central courtyards decorated with mosaics. Another important excavated Roman village is Miróbriga

Miróbriga

Miróbriga is an ancient Roman town located near the village and civil parish of Santiago do Cacém, in the municipality of the same name in the south-west of Portugal...

, near Santiago do Cacém

Santiago do Cacém

Santiago do Cacém is a municipality in Portugal with a total area of 1060.0 km² and a total population of 30,305 inhabitants.The municipality is composed of 11 parishes, and is located in Setúbal District....

, with a well preserved Roman temple, baths, a bridge and the vestiges of the only Roman hippodrome

Hippodrome

A hippodrome was a Greek stadium for horse racing and chariot racing. The name is derived from the Greek words "hippos and "dromos"...

known in Portugal.

In the hinterland, wealthy Romans established villa

Villa

A villa was originally an ancient Roman upper-class country house. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fall of the Roman Republic, villas became small farming compounds, which were increasingly fortified in Late Antiquity,...

e, country houses dedicated to agriculture. Many villae contained facilities likes baths and were decorated with mosaics and paintings. Important sites are the Villae of Pisões (near Beja), Torre de Palma (near Monforte

Monforte

-Places in Italy:*Monforte d'Alba, a commune in the province of Cuneo*Corleto Monforte, a commune in the province of Salerno* A Lazio village near Casalattico, formerly called Mortale but renamed in honour of the Forte family-Places in Portugal:...

) and Centum Cellas (near Belmonte). The latter has the well-preserved ruins of a three-storey tower which was part of the residence of the villa owner.

Pre-Romanesque

Roman domination in Hispania was ended with the invasions by Germanic peoples (especially Sueves and Visigoths) starting in the 5th century AD. Very few buildings survive from the period of Visigoth domination (c.580-770), most of them modified in subsequent centuries. One of these is the small Saint Frutuoso Chapel

Saint Frutuoso Chapel

The Chapel of São Frutuoso , also known as the Chapel of São Frutuoso of Montélios or the Chapel of São Salvador of Montélios , is a pre-Romanesque chapel in the civil parish of Real, municipality of Braga. It is part of group of religious buildings that include the Royal Church, and originally...

, near Braga, which was part of a Visigothic monastery built in the 7th century. The building has a Greek cross floorplan with rectangular arms and a central cupola

Cupola

In architecture, a cupola is a small, most-often dome-like, structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome....

; both the cupola and the arms of the chapel are decorated with arch reliefs. The chapel shows clear influences of Byzantine buildings

Byzantine architecture

Byzantine architecture is the architecture of the Byzantine Empire. The empire gradually emerged as a distinct artistic and cultural entity from what is today referred to as the Roman Empire after AD 330, when the Roman Emperor Constantine moved the capital of the Roman Empire east from Rome to...

like the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia

Mausoleum of Galla Placidia

The Mausoleum of Galla Placidia is a Roman building in Ravenna, Italy. It was listed with seven other structures in Ravenna in the World Heritage List in 1996...

in Ravenna

Ravenna

Ravenna is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy and the second largest comune in Italy by land area, although, at , it is little more than half the size of the largest comune, Rome...

.

After 711, in the period of dominance of the Iberian Peninsula by the Moors

Moors

The description Moors has referred to several historic and modern populations of the Maghreb region who are predominately of Berber and Arab descent. They came to conquer and rule the Iberian Peninsula for nearly 800 years. At that time they were Muslim, although earlier the people had followed...

, the Christian Kingdom of Asturias

Kingdom of Asturias

The Kingdom of Asturias was a Kingdom in the Iberian peninsula founded in 718 by Visigothic nobles under the leadership of Pelagius of Asturias. It was the first Christian political entity established following the collapse of the Visigothic kingdom after Islamic conquest of Hispania...

(c.711-910), located in the Northern part of the peninsula, was a centre of resistance (see Reconquista
Reconquista
The Reconquista was a period of almost 800 years in the Middle Ages during which several Christian kingdoms succeeded in retaking the Muslim-controlled areas of the Iberian Peninsula broadly known as Al-Andalus...

). In addition, many Christians (Mozarabs) lived in Moorish territories and were allowed to practicise their religion and build churches. Asturian architecture and Mozarabic art influenced Christian buildings in the future Portuguese territory, as seen on the few structures that have survived from this time. The most important of these is the Church of São Pedro de Lourosa, located near Oliveira do Hospital

Oliveira do Hospital

Oliveira do Hospital is a municipality in the old district of Coimbra, in the central part of continental Portugal.-History:Inhabited by ancient civilizations, Oliveira do Hospital has Roman settlements, Visigothic relics, noble Gothic mansions as well as ancient villages built of slate...

, which bears an inscription that gives 912 as the year of its construction. The church is a basilica

Basilica

The Latin word basilica , was originally used to describe a Roman public building, usually located in the forum of a Roman town. Public basilicas began to appear in Hellenistic cities in the 2nd century BC.The term was also applied to buildings used for religious purposes...

with three aisles separated by horseshoe arches

Arch

An arch is a structure that spans a space and supports a load. Arches appeared as early as the 2nd millennium BC in Mesopotamian brick architecture and their systematic use started with the Ancient Romans who were the first to apply the technique to a wide range of structures.-Technical aspects:The...

, a narthex

Narthex

The narthex of a church is the entrance or lobby area, located at the end of the nave, at the far end from the church's main altar. Traditionally the narthex was a part of the church building, but was not considered part of the church proper...

on the façade and mullion

Mullion

A mullion is a vertical structural element which divides adjacent window units. The primary purpose of the mullion is as a structural support to an arch or lintel above the window opening. Its secondary purpose may be as a rigid support to the glazing of the window...

ed, horseshoe-shaped windows of Asturian influence on the central aisle.

Other preromanesque churches built under Asturian and Mozarabic influence are São Pedro de Balsemão

São Pedro de Balsemão

São Pedro de Balsemão Chapel, is a small Visigothic chapel believed to be the oldest in Portugal and second oldest in Europe. The earliest walls date to the 7th century. The chapel is located just outside the town of Lamego, within walking distance from the back of the cathedral.-See also:*Oldest...

, near Lamego

Lamego

Lamego is a municipality in northern Portugal, with a population of 27,054 inhabitants Lamego is a municipality in northern Portugal, with a population of 27,054 inhabitants Lamego is a municipality in northern Portugal, with a population of 27,054 inhabitants (the catchment of the city of...

, with a basilica

Basilica

floorplan, and the Chapel of São Gião, near Nazaré

Nazaré, Portugal

Nazaré is a town in Nazaré Municipality in Portugal with a total area of 82,4 km² and a total population of 14,904 inhabitants. It is in subregion Oeste and Leiria district....

, although some authors consider that these buildings may be of Visigoth origin. The inner spaces of these buildings are all divided by typical horseshoe arches. The Visigothic Saint Frutuoso Chapel was also modified in the 10th century, when the arm chapels were given a round flooplan and horseshoe arches.

Moorish period

The invasion of the Iberian Peninsula in the year 711 by Moors

Moors

from the Maghreb

Maghreb

The Maghreb is the region of Northwest Africa, west of Egypt. It includes five countries: Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Mauritania and the disputed territory of Western Sahara...

put an end to Visigoth rule in Hispania

Hispania

, called Al-Andalus

Al-Andalus

by the newcomers. Moorish presence strongly influenced art and architecture in Portuguese territory, especially in Southern Portugal, where the Reconquista

Reconquista

The Reconquista was a period of almost 800 years in the Middle Ages during which several Christian kingdoms succeeded in retaking the Muslim-controlled areas of the Iberian Peninsula broadly known as Al-Andalus...

was only finished in 1249. However, in contrast to neighbouring Spain, few Islamic buildings in Portugal have survived intact to this day. Traditional houses in many cities and villages in Portugal have simple, white façades that lend the ensemble of streets and neighbourhoods a distinct Islamic look, similar to that of villages in Northern Africa. Many villages and city neighbourhoods have retained the street layout from Islamic times, like the Alfama

Alfama

Alfama is the oldest district of Lisbon, spreading on the slope between the Castle of Lisbon and the Tejo river. Its name comes from the Arabic Al-hamma, meaning fountains or baths...

in Lisbon. Moorish buildings were often constructed with the rammed earth

Rammed earth

Rammed earth, also known as taipa , tapial , and pisé , is a technique for building walls using the raw materials of earth, chalk, lime and gravel. It is an ancient building method that has seen a revival in recent years as people seek more sustainable building materials and natural building methods...

(taipa) and adobe

Adobe

Adobe is a natural building material made from sand, clay, water, and some kind of fibrous or organic material , which the builders shape into bricks using frames and dry in the sun. Adobe buildings are similar to cob and mudbrick buildings. Adobe structures are extremely durable, and account for...

techniques, followed by whitewashing.

Castles

The Moors built strong castles and fortifications in many cities but, although many Portuguese mediaeval castles originated in the Islamic period, most of them have been extensively remodelled after the Christian reconquest. One of the best-preserved is Silves Castle

Silves Castle

Silves Castle is located in the city of Silves, in the region of Algarve, in Southern Portugal. Silves Castle was built between the 8th and the 13th century AD and is considered to be the best preserved of the Moorish castles of the country....

, located in Silves, the ancient capital of the Al-Garb, today's Algarve. Built between the 8th and 13th centuries, Silves Castle has preserved its walls and square-shaped towers from the Moorish period, as well as 11th-century cistern

Cistern

A cistern is a waterproof receptacle for holding liquids, usually water. Cisterns are often built to catch and store rainwater. Cisterns are distinguished from wells by their waterproof linings...

s - water reservoirs used in case of a siege

Siege

A siege is a military blockade of a city or fortress with the intent of conquering by attrition or assault. The term derives from sedere, Latin for "to sit". Generally speaking, siege warfare is a form of constant, low intensity conflict characterized by one party holding a strong, static...

. The old Moorish centre of the city - the Almedina - was defended by a wall and several fortified towers and gates, parts of which are still preserved.

Another notable Islamic castle in the Algarve is Paderne Castle

Paderne Castle

Paderne Castle is in Algarve, Portugal. This hill fort was built by the Moors in the second half of the 12th Century. Its is eight km from the Algarve resort of Albufeira, on a River Quarteira bend close to the village and civil parish of Paderne. It is north from the coast. The castle is one of...

, whose ruined walls evidence the taipa building technique used in its construction. The Sintra Moorish Castle, near Lisbon, has also preserved rests of walls and a cistern from Moorish times. Part of the Moorish city walls have been preserved in Lisbon (the so-called Cerca Velha) and Évora. Moorish city gates with a characteristic horseshoe-arched profile can be found in Faro

Faro, Portugal

Faro is the southernmost city in Portugal. It is located in the Faro Municipality in southern Portugal. The city proper has 41,934 inhabitants and the entire municipality has 58,305. It is the seat of the Faro District and capital of the Algarve region...

and Elvas.

Mosques

Many mosques were built all over Portuguese territory during Muslim domination, but virtually all of these have been turned into churches and cathedrals, and Islamic features cannot be identified anymore. Thus, the Cathedrals of Lisbon

Lisbon Cathedral

The Patriarchal Cathedral of St. Mary Major is a Roman Catholic parish church located in Lisbon, Portugal. The oldest church in the city is the see of the Archdiocese of Lisbon. Since the beginning of the construction of the cathedral, in the year 1147, the building has been modified several...

, Silves

Silves Cathedral

Silves Cathedral in the city of Silves, in the Algarve region of southern Portugal, was mostly built in the 15th century and is considered the main Gothic monument in the Algarve.-History:...

and Faro, for instance, are probably built over the remains of the great mosques after the Reconquista.

The only exception to this rule is the Main Church (Matriz) of Mértola

Mértola

Mértola is a municipality in southeastern Portugal next to the Spanish border. It has a total area of 1,292.87 km² and a total population of 8,712 inhabitants . In terms of land area, it is the sixth-largest municipality in Portugal. The resultant population density of 6.74 persons/km² is the...

, in the Alentejo region. The Mértola Mosque was built in the second half of the 12th century and, even though it has suffered several modifications, it is still the best-preserved mediaeval mosque in Portugal. Inside the church has an approximate square-shaped floorplan with 4 aisles with a total of 12 columns that support a 16th-century Manueline

Manueline

rib vault

Rib vault

The intersection of two or three barrel vaults produces a rib vault or ribbed vault when they are edged with an armature of piped masonry often carved in decorative patterns; compare groin vault, an older form of vault construction...

ing. Even though the roof has been modified and some aisles have been suppressed in the 16th century, the labyrinth

Labyrinth

In Greek mythology, the Labyrinth was an elaborate structure designed and built by the legendary artificer Daedalus for King Minos of Crete at Knossos...

ic interior with its "forest" of pillars clearly relates to other contemporary mosques in Spain and Maghreb. The inner wall still has a mihrab

Mihrab

A mihrab is semicircular niche in the wall of a mosque that indicates the qibla; that is, the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca and hence the direction that Muslims should face when praying...

, a decorated niche that indicates the direction of Mecca

Mecca

Mecca is a city in the Hijaz and the capital of Makkah province in Saudi Arabia. The city is located inland from Jeddah in a narrow valley at a height of above sea level...

. In addition the church has three horseshoe arches with an alfiz

Alfiz

The alfiz is an architectonic adornment, consisting of a moulding, usually a rectangular panel, which encloses the outward side of an arch...

, a typical Islamic decorative feature.

Romanesque style (1100-c. 1230)

Cathedrals and monasteries

The Romanesque style

Romanesque architecture

was introduced in Portugal between the end of the 11th and the beginning of the 12th century. The most influential of the first Portuguese Romanesque monuments were Braga Cathedral

Braga Cathedral

The Cathedral of Braga is one of the most important monuments in the city of Braga, in Northern Portugal. Due to its long history and artistic significance it is also one of the most important buildings in the country.-History:...

and the Monastery of Rates

Monastery of Rates

The Monastery of Rates was a Benedictine monastery located in the parish of Rates in the municipality of Póvoa de Varzim, in Portugal. The only part of the monastery that has survived to this day is the Church dedicated to St Peter of Rates and is a national monument since 1910...

. The Cathedral of Braga was rebuilt in the 1070s by bishop Pedro and consecrated in 1089, although only the apse

Apse

In architecture, the apse is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome...

was finished at the time. The bishop's ambitious plan was to create a pilgrimage

Pilgrimage

A pilgrimage is a journey or search of great moral or spiritual significance. Typically, it is a journey to a shrine or other location of importance to a person's beliefs and faith...

church, with a three aisle

Aisle

An aisle is, in general, a space for walking with rows of seats on both sides or with rows of seats on one side and a wall on the other...

d nave

Nave

In Romanesque and Gothic Christian abbey, cathedral basilica and church architecture, the nave is the central approach to the high altar, the main body of the church. "Nave" was probably suggested by the keel shape of its vaulting...

, an ambulatory

Ambulatory

The ambulatory is the covered passage around a cloister. The term is sometimes applied to the procession way around the east end of a cathedral or large church and behind the high altar....

and a large transept

Transept

For the periodical go to The Transept.A transept is a transverse section, of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In Christian churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform building in Romanesque and Gothic Christian church architecture...

. A relic of this early project may be a small Eastern chapel located nowadays outside the church itself.

Building activity gained pace after 1095, when Count Henry

Henry, Count of Portugal

Henry of Burgundy, Count of Portugal was Count of Portugal from 1093 to his death. He was brother of Hugh I, Duke of Burgundy, and Odo I, Duke of Burgundy, all sons of Henry, the heir of Robert I, Duke of Burgundy. His name is Henri in modern French, Henricus in Latin, Enrique in modern Spanish...

took possession of the Condado Portucalense. Count Henry came to Portugal with a number of noblemen and also Benedictine

Benedictine

Benedictine refers to the spirituality and consecrated life in accordance with the Rule of St Benedict, written by Benedict of Nursia in the sixth century for the cenobitic communities he founded in central Italy. The most notable of these is Monte Cassino, the first monastery founded by Benedict...

monks of Cluny Abbey

Cluny Abbey

Cluny Abbey is a Benedictine monastery in Cluny, Saône-et-Loire, France. It was built in the Romanesque style, with three churches built in succession from the 10th to the early 12th centuries....

, which was headed by Henry's brother, Hugh

Hugh of Cluny

Hugh of Cluny was an Abbot of Cluny. He is sometimes referred to as "Hugh the Great" or "Hugh of Semur" and was canonized by the Roman Catholic Church as Saint Hugh . He was one of the most influential leaders of one of the most influential monastic orders of the Middle Ages.Abbot Hugh built the...

. The Benedictines and other religious orders gave great impulse to Romanesque architecture during the whole 12th century. Count Henry sponsored the building of the Monastery of Rates

Rates

Rates is a Portuguese parish and town located in the municipality of Póvoa de Varzim. In the census of 2001, it had a population of 2,539 inhabitants and a total area of 13.88 square kilometres.-History:...

(begun c.1100), one of the fundamental works of the first Portuguese Romanesque, although the project was modified several times during the 12th century.

The worshops of Braga and Rates were very influential in Northern Portugal. Extant 12th-century Romanesque monastic churches are found in Manhente (near Barcelos

Barcelos, Portugal

Barcelos is a city in Barcelos Municipality in Braga District. The city has a population of 20,625.-History:Originally a Roman settlement, it expanded and became the seat of the First Duke of Bragança in the 15th century...

), with a portal dating from around 1117; Rio Mau (near Vila do Conde); with an exceptional apse dating from 1151; Travanca (near Amarante

Amarante, Portugal

Amarante is a city in Amarante Municipality, Portugal.The city itself has a population of 11,261 inhabitants. It sits on the banks of the Tâmega River.It is a sister city of Wiesloch, Germany.- Culture :...

); Paço de Sousa (near Penafiel

Penafiel, Portugal

The city of Penafiel had, as of 2001, a population of 9,343. It is located in Penafiel Municipality, that has 71,801 inhabitants....

); Bravães (near Ponte da Barca), Pombeiro

Mosteiro de Pombeiro

The Monastery of Pombeiro is a monastery in the civil parish of Pombeiro de Ribavizela, in the municipality of Felgueiras , in the northern region of Portugal.-History:...

(near Felgueiras

Felgueiras

Felgueiras is a Portuguese civil parish , located in the municipality of Resende, in the older district of Viseu, Portugal. In 2001, the population was 315 inhabitants occupying an area of 8.4 km² .-History:...

) and many others.

The spread of Romanesque in Portugal followed the North-South path of the Reconquista

Reconquista

, specially during the reign of Afonso Henriques, Count Henry's son and first King of Portugal. In Coimbra

Coimbra

, Afonso Henriques created the Santa Cruz Monastery

Santa Cruz Monastery

The Santa Cruz Monastery, The Santa Cruz Monastery, The Santa Cruz Monastery, (English: Monastery of the Holy Cross, Portuguese: Mosteiro de Santa Cruz, best known as Igreja (Church) de Santa Cruz is a National Monument in Coimbra, Portugal. Because the first two kings of Portugal are buried in the...

, one of the most important of the monastic foundations of the time, although the current building is the result of a 16th century remodelling. Afonso Henriques and his successors also sponsored the building of many cathedrals in the bishop seats of the country. This generation of Romanesque cathedrals included the already-mentioned Braga, Oporto

Oporto Cathedral

The Porto Cathedral , located in the historical centre of the city of Porto, Portugal, is one of the city's oldest monuments and one of the most important Romanesque monuments in Portugal...

, Coimbra

Old Cathedral of Coimbra

The Old Cathedral of Coimbra is one of the most important Romanesque Roman Catholic buildings in Portugal. Construction of the Sé Velha began some time after the Battle of Ourique , when Count Afonso Henriques declared himself King of Portugal and chose Coimbra as capital...

, Viseu

Viseu Cathedral

Viseu Cathedral is the bishopric seat of the city of Viseu, in Portugal. The church started being built in the 12th century and is the most important historical monument of the town...

, Lamego

Lamego

and Lisbon

Lisbon Cathedral

All Portuguese Romanesque cathedrals were later extensively modified with the exception of the Cathedral of Coimbra

Old Cathedral of Coimbra

(begun 1162), which has remained unaltered. Coimbra Cathedral is a Latin cross church with a three-aisle

Aisle

An aisle is, in general, a space for walking with rows of seats on both sides or with rows of seats on one side and a wall on the other...

d nave

Nave

, a transept

Transept

with short arms and three East chapels. The central aisle is covered by a stone barrel vault

Barrel vault

A barrel vault, also known as a tunnel vault or a wagon vault, is an architectural element formed by the extrusion of a single curve along a given distance. The curves are typically circular in shape, lending a semi-cylindrical appearance to the total design...

ing while the lateral aisles are covered by groin vault

Groin vault

A groin vault or groined vault is produced by the intersection at right angles of two barrel vaults. The word groin refers to the edge between the intersecting vaults; cf. ribbed vault. Sometimes the arches of groin vaults are pointed instead of round...

s. The second storey of the central aisle has an arched gallery (triforium

Triforium

A triforium is a shallow arched gallery within the thickness of inner wall, which stands above the nave of a church or cathedral. It may occur at the level of the clerestory windows, or it may be located as a separate level below the clerestory. It may itself have an outer wall of glass rather than...

), and the crossing

Crossing (architecture)

A crossing, in ecclesiastical architecture, is the junction of the four arms of a cruciform church.In a typically oriented church , the crossing gives access to the nave on the west, the transept arms on the north and south, and the choir on the east.The crossing is sometimes surmounted by a tower...

is topped by a dome

Dome

A dome is a structural element of architecture that resembles the hollow upper half of a sphere. Dome structures made of various materials have a long architectural lineage extending into prehistory....

. This general scheme is related to that of the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela

Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela

Santiago de Compostela Cathedral is a Roman Catholic cathedral of the archdiocese of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, Spain. The cathedral is the reputed burial-place of Saint James the Greater, one of the apostles of Jesus Christ. It is the destination of the Way of St...

in Galicia, although the Coimbra building is much less ambitious.

Lisbon Cathedral

Lisbon Cathedral

(begun c.1147) is very similar to Coimbra Cathedral, except that the West façade is flanked by two massive towers, a feature observed in other cathedrals like Oporto and Viseu. In general, Portuguese cathedrals had a heavy, fortress-like appearance, with crenellations and little decoration apart from portals and windows.

A remarkable religious Romanesque building is the Round Church (Rotunda) in the Castle of Tomar, which was built in the second half of the 12th century by the Templar Knights. The church is a round structure with a central arched octagon, and was probably modelled after the Dome of the Rock

Dome of the Rock

The Dome of the Rock is a shrine located on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem. The structure has been refurbished many times since its initial completion in 691 CE at the order of Umayyad Caliph Abd al-Malik...

in Jerusalem, which was mistakenly believed by the crusaders

Crusaders

The Crusaders are a New Zealand professional rugby union team based in Christchurch that competes in the Super Rugby competition. They are the most successful team in Super Rugby history with seven titles...

to be a remnant of the Temple of Solomon

Temple in Jerusalem

The Temple in Jerusalem or Holy Temple , refers to one of a series of structures which were historically located on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem, the current site of the Dome of the Rock. Historically, these successive temples stood at this location and functioned as the centre of...

. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre

Church of the Holy Sepulchre

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, also called the Church of the Resurrection by Eastern Christians, is a church within the walled Old City of Jerusalem. It is a few steps away from the Muristan....

of Jerusalem may also have served as model.

Castles

The troubled times of the Portuguese Reconquista

Reconquista

meant that many castles had to be built to protect villages from Moors and Castilians. King Afonso Henriques sponsored the building of many fortifications (often remodelling Moorish castles as Lisbon Castle) and granted land to Military Orders - specially the Templar Knights and the Knights Hospitallers - who became responsible for the defence of borders and villages. The Templar Knights built several fortresses along the line of the Tagus

Tagus

The Tagus is the longest river on the Iberian Peninsula. It is long, in Spain, along the border between Portugal and Spain and in Portugal, where it empties into the Atlantic Ocean at Lisbon. It drains an area of . The Tagus is highly utilized for most of its course...

river, like the castles of Pombal

Pombal, Portugal

Pombal is a town in Pombal Municipality, Portugal. The population of the city is about 16.000 inhabitants....

, Tomar

Tomar

Tomar Municipality has a total area of 351.0 km² and a total population of 43,007 inhabitants.The municipality is composed of 16 parishes, and is located in Santarém District...

and Belver

Belver (Gavião)

Belver is a Portuguese civil parish in the municipality of Gavião, district of Portalegre. The population in 2001 was 900, which covered an area of 69.83 km², along the northern margin of the Tagus River.-Geography:...

and Almourol. They are credited as having introduced the keep

Keep

A keep is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word keep, but usually consider it to refer to large towers in castles that were fortified residences, used as a refuge of last resort should the rest of the...

to Portuguese military architecture.

Gothic (c. 1200 - c.1450)

Main article : Portuguese Gothic architecture

Portuguese Gothic architecture

Portuguese Gothic architecture is the architectural style prevalent in Portugal in the Late Middle Ages. As in other parts of Europe, Gothic style slowly replaced Romanesque architecture in the period between the late 12th and the 13th century...

Churches and monasteries

Gothic architecture

Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....

was brought to Portugal by the Cistercian Order. The first fully Gothic building in Portugal is the church of the Monastery of Alcobaça

Monastery of Alcobaça

The Alcobaça Monastery is a Mediaeval Roman Catholic Monastery located in the town of Alcobaça, in central Portugal. It was founded by the first Portuguese King, Afonso Henriques, in 1153, and maintained a close association with the Kings of Portugal throughout its history.The church and monastery...

, a magnificent example of the clear and simple architectural forms favoured by the Cistercians. The church was built between 1178 and 1252 in three phases, and seems inspired by the Abbey of Clairvaux, in the Champagne

Champagne, France

Champagne is a historic province in the northeast of France, now best known for the sparkling white wine that bears its name.Formerly ruled by the counts of Champagne, its western edge is about 100 miles east of Paris. The cities of Troyes, Reims, and Épernay are the commercial centers of the area...

. Its three aisles are very tall and slender, giving an exceptional impression of height. The whole church is covered by rib vault

Rib vault

ing and the main chapel has an ambulatory

Ambulatory

The ambulatory is the covered passage around a cloister. The term is sometimes applied to the procession way around the east end of a cathedral or large church and behind the high altar....

and a series of radiant chapels. The vault of the ambulatory is externally supported by flying buttress

Flying buttress

A flying buttress is a specific form of buttressing most strongly associated with Gothic church architecture. The purpose of any buttress is to resist the lateral forces pushing a wall outwards by redirecting them to the ground...

es, typical features of Gothic architecture and a novelty at the time in Portugal.

After the foundation of Alcobaça, the Gothic style was chiefly disseminated by mendicant orders (mainly Franciscan

Franciscan

Most Franciscans are members of Roman Catholic religious orders founded by Saint Francis of Assisi. Besides Roman Catholic communities, there are also Old Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, ecumenical and Non-denominational Franciscan communities....

, Augustinians

Augustinians

The term Augustinians, named after Saint Augustine of Hippo , applies to two separate and unrelated types of Catholic religious orders:...

and Dominicans). Along the 13th and 14th centuries, several convents were founded in urban centres, important examples of which can be found in Oporto (São Francisco Church), Coimbra (Monastery of Santa Clara-a-Velha

Monastery of Santa Clara-a-Velha

The ruins of the Monastery of Santa Clara-a-Velha are located in the city of Coimbra, in Portugal. The monastery was built in the 14th century on the left bank of the Mondego River, but had to be abandoned in the 17th century due to frequent floods...

), Guimarães

Guimarães

(São Francisco, São Domingos), Santarém

Santarém, Portugal

Santarém is a city in the Santarém Municipality in Portugal. The city itself has a population of 28,760 and the entire municipality has 64,124 inhabitants.It is the capital of Santarém District....

(São Francisco, Santa Clara), Elvas (São Domingos), Lisbon (ruins of Carmo Convent

Carmo Convent (Lisbon)

The Carmo Convent is a historical building in Lisbon, Portugal. The mediaeval convent was ruined in the 1755 Lisbon Earthquake, and the ruins of its Gothic church are the main trace of the great earthquake still visible in the city.The Carmo Convent is located in the Chiado neighbourhood, on a...

) and many other places. Mendicant Gothic churches usually had a three-aisled nave

Nave

covered with wooden roof and an apse

Apse

In architecture, the apse is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome...

with three chapels covered with rib vaulting. These churches also lacked towers and were mostly devoid of architectural decoration, in tone with mendicant ideals. Mendicant Gothic was also adopted in several parish churches built all over the country, for instance in Sintra

Sintra

Sintra is a town within the municipality of Sintra in the Grande Lisboa subregion of Portugal. Owing to its 19th century Romantic architecture and landscapes, becoming a major tourist centre, visited by many day-trippers who travel from the urbanized suburbs and capital of Lisbon.In addition to...

(Santa Maria), Mafra

Mafra, Portugal

Mafra is a town in Mafra Municipality in Portugal.The town is 28 km north-west from the center of Lisbon. It is mostly known for the sumptuous Palácio de Mafra , which also makes it a popular tourist destination in the Lisbon area...

, Lourinhã

Lourinhã

Lourinhã is a municipality in Portugal with a total area of 147.2 km² and a total population of 24,601 inhabitants. The seat of the municipality is the village of Lourinhã, with a population of 8,800 inhabitants....

and Loulé

Loulé

Loulé is a city and a municipality in Portugal with a total area of 764.2 km² and a total population of 62,295 inhabitants. The city proper has a population of 12,103.The municipality is composed of 11 parishes, and is located in the District of Faro....

Many of the Romanesque cathedrals were modernised with Gothic elements. Thus, the Romanesque nave of Oporto Cathedral

Oporto Cathedral

The Porto Cathedral , located in the historical centre of the city of Porto, Portugal, is one of the city's oldest monuments and one of the most important Romanesque monuments in Portugal...

is supported by flying buttresses, one of the first built in Portugal (early 13th century). The apse of Lisbon Cathedral

Lisbon Cathedral

was totally remodelled in the first half of the 14th century, when it gained a Gothic ambulatory illuminated by a clerestory

Clerestory

Clerestory is an architectural term that historically denoted an upper level of a Roman basilica or of the nave of a Romanesque or Gothic church, the walls of which rise above the rooflines of the lower aisles and are pierced with windows. In modern usage, clerestory refers to any high windows...

(high row of windows on the upper storey). The ambulatory has a series of radiant chapels illuminated with large windows, contrasting with the dark Romanesque nave of the cathedral. An important transitional building is Évora Cathedral, built during the 13th century; even though its floorplan, façade and elevation are inspired by Lisbon Cathedral, its forms (arches, windows, vaults) are already Gothic. Many Gothic churches maintained the fortress-like appearance of Romanesque times, like the already-mentioned Évora Cathedral, the Church of the Monastery of Leça do Balio (14th century) near Matosinhos

Matosinhos

Matosinhos Municipality is located in Porto District, Portugal. The main city is Matosinhos. It is bordered to the south by the city of Porto and lies within the Greater Porto subregion. The municipality has a population of 168,451 in 10 parishes. Many people have recently moved from the...

, and even as late as the 15th-century, with the Main Church of Viana do Castelo.

Several Gothic cloisters were built and can still be found in the Cathedrals of Oporto, Lisbon and Évora (all from the 14th century) as well as in monasteries like Alcobaça, Santo Tirso

Santo Tirso

Santo Tirso is a city and municipality located in the north of Porto Metropolitan Area, Porto District, Portugal. In the region, the Ave Valley, there is a large center of textile industry....

and the Convent of the Order of Christ

Convent of the Order of Christ

The Convent of the Order of Christ is a religious building and Roman Catholic building in Tomar, Portugal, originally a Templar stronghold built in the 12th century...

.

In the early 15th century, the building of the Monastery of Batalha, sponsored by King John I

John I of Portugal

John I KG , called the Good or of Happy Memory, more rarely and outside Portugal the Bastard, was the tenth King of Portugal and the Algarve and the first to use the title Lord of Ceuta...

, led to a renovation of Portuguese Gothic. After 1402, the works were trusted to Master Huguet

Huguet

Huguet was an architect living in the early 15th century and active in Portugal, who introduced the Flamboyant Gothic style to Portugal...

, of unknown origin, who introduced the Flamboyant Gothic style to the project. The whole building is decorated with Gothic pinnacles (crocket

Crocket

A crocket is a hook-shaped decorative element common in Gothic architecture. It is in the form of a stylised carving of curled leaves, buds or flowers which is used at regular intervals to decorate the sloping edges of spires, finials, pinnacles, and wimpergs....

s), reliefs, large windows with intrincate tracery

Tracery

In architecture, Tracery is the stonework elements that support the glass in a Gothic window. The term probably derives from the 'tracing floors' on which the complex patterns of late Gothic windows were laid out.-Plate tracery:...

and elaborate crenellations. The main portal has a series of archivolt

Archivolt

An archivolt is an ornamental molding or band following the curve on the underside of an arch. It is composed of bands of ornamental moldings surrounding an arched opening, corresponding to the architrave in the case of a rectangular opening...

s decorated with a multitude of statues, while the tympanum

Tympanum (architecture)

In architecture, a tympanum is the semi-circular or triangular decorative wall surface over an entrance, bounded by a lintel and arch. It often contains sculpture or other imagery or ornaments. Most architectural styles include this element....

has a relief showing Christ and the Evangelists. The Founder's Chapel and the Chapter House have elaborate star-ribbed vaulting, unknown in Portugal until then. Batalha influenced 15th-century workshops like those of Guarda Cathedral, Silves Cathedral

Silves Cathedral

Silves Cathedral in the city of Silves, in the Algarve region of southern Portugal, was mostly built in the 15th century and is considered the main Gothic monument in the Algarve.-History:...

and monasteries in Beja

Beja (Portugal)

Beja is a city in the Beja Municipality in the Alentejo region, Portugal. The municipality has a total area of 1,147.1 km² and a total population of 34,970 inhabitants. The city proper has a population of 21,658....

(Nossa Senhora da Conceição) and Santarém (Convento da Graça).

Another Gothic variant was the so-called Mudéjar-Gothic, which developed in Portugal towards the end of the 15th century, specially in the Alentejo region. The name Mudéjar

Mudéjar

Mudéjar is the name given to individual Moors or Muslims of Al-Andalus who remained in Iberia after the Christian Reconquista but were not converted to Christianity...

refers to the influence of Islamic art in the Christian kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula, specially in the Middle Ages. In the Alentejo and elsewhere, Mudéjar influence in several buildings is evident in the profile of windows and portals, often with horseshoe arch

Arch

es and a mullion

Mullion

, circular turret

Turret

In architecture, a turret is a small tower that projects vertically from the wall of a building such as a medieval castle. Turrets were used to provide a projecting defensive position allowing covering fire to the adjacent wall in the days of military fortification...

s with conical pinnacle

Pinnacle

A pinnacle is an architectural ornament originally forming the cap or crown of a buttress or small turret, but afterwards used on parapets at the corners of towers and in many other situations. The pinnacle looks like a small spire...

s, Islamic merlon

Merlon

In architecture, a merlon forms the solid part of an embattled parapet, sometimes pierced by embrasures. The space between two merlons is usually called a crenel, although those later designed and used for cannons were called embrasures.-Etymology:...

s etc., as well as tile

Tile

A tile is a manufactured piece of hard-wearing material such as ceramic, stone, metal, or even glass. Tiles are generally used for covering roofs, floors, walls, showers, or other objects such as tabletops...

(azulejo

Azulejo

Azulejo from the Arabic word Zellige زليج is a form of Portuguese or Spanish painted, tin-glazed, ceramic tilework. They have become a typical aspect of Portuguese culture, having been produced without interruption for five centuries...

) decoration. Examples include the portico of St Francis Church of Évora

Igreja de São Francisco (Évora)

The Igreja de São Francisco is located in Évora, Portugal. It is best known for its lugubrious Chapel of the Bones.This huge church was built in Gothic style between 1475 and the 1550s to the design of Martim Lourenço, replacing an earlier Romanesque church of 1226...

, the courtyard of the Sintra Royal Palace

Sintra National Palace

The Sintra National Palace , also called Town Palace is located in the town of Sintra, in Portugal near Lisbon....

and several churches and palaces in Évora, Elvas, Arraiolos

Arraiolos

Arraiolos is a municipality in Portugal with a total area of 683.0 km² and a total population of 7,389 inhabitants. The small town of Arraiolos has 3,351 inhabitants.The municipality is located in Évora District....

, Beja, etc. Múdejar eventually intermingled with the Manueline style in the early 16th century.

Castles and palaces

During the Gothic era, several castles had to be either built or reinforced, especially along the border with the Kingdom of Castille. Compared to previous castles, Gothic castles in Portugal tended to have more towers, often of circular or semi-circular plan (to increase resistance to projectiles), keep

Keep

towers tended to be polygonal, and castle gates were often defended by a pair of flanking towers. A second, lower wall curtain (barbican

Barbican

A barbican, from medieval Latin barbecana, signifying the "outer fortification of a city or castle," with cognates in the Romance languages A barbican, from medieval Latin barbecana, signifying the "outer fortification of a city or castle," with cognates in the Romance languages A barbican, from...

s) were often built along the perimeter of the main walls to prevent war machines from approaching the castle. Features like machicolations and improved arrowslits became also widespread.

Starting in the 14th century, keep towers became larger and more sophisticated, with rib vaulting roofs and facilities like fireplaces. Keep towers with improved residential characteristics can be found in the castles of Beja

Beja (Portugal)

, Estremoz and Bragança

Bragança (Portugal)

Bragança is a city and municipality in north-eastern Portugal, capital of district of Bragança, in Alto Trás-os-Montes subregion of Portugal. In 2001, the population of the municipality was 34,774, in an area of 1173.57 km².-History:...

, while some later castles (15th century) became real palaces, like those in Penedono

Penedono

Penedono is a municipality in the northern district of Viseu in Portugal with a total area of 133.7 km² and a total population of 3,378 inhabitants.-History:...

, Ourém

Ourém

Ourém is a municipality in Portugal with a total area of 416.6 km² and a total population of 49,269 inhabitants. The city itself has a population of about 12,000.The municipality is composed of 18 parishes, and is located in the district of Santarém...

and Porto de Mós

Porto de Mós

Porto de Mós is a town in Porto de Mós Municipality in Portugal....

. The most significant case is the Castle of Leiria, turned into a royal palace by King John I. Some rooms of the palace are decorated with splendid Gothic loggia

Loggia

Loggia is the name given to an architectural feature, originally of Minoan design. They are often a gallery or corridor at ground level, sometimes higher, on the facade of a building and open to the air on one side, where it is supported by columns or pierced openings in the wall...

s, from which the surrounding landscape could be appreciated by the King and Queen.

Manueline style (c.1490 - c.1520)

Main article : Manueline

Manueline

Portuguese Late Gothic architecture is characterised by the development of a sumptuous style called Manueline

Manueline

in honour of King Manuel I

Manuel I of Portugal

Manuel I , the Fortunate , 14th king of Portugal and the Algarves was the son of Infante Ferdinand, Duke of Viseu, , by his wife, Infanta Beatrice of Portugal...

, under whose reign (1495–1521) most buildings of the style were built or begun. Manueline mixes aspects of Late Gothic with Renaissance architecture

Renaissance architecture

and decoration, revealing influences from Spanish

Architecture of the Spanish Renaissance

Renaissance architecture was that style of architecture which evolved firstly in Florence and then Rome and other parts of Italy as the result of Humanism and a revived interest in Classical architecture...

(Plateresque

Plateresque

Plateresque, meaning "in the manner of a silversmith" , was an artistic movement, especially architectural, traditionally held to be exclusive to Spain and its territories, which appeared between the late Gothic and early Renaissance in the late 15th century, and spread over the next two centuries...

, Isabelline

Isabelline Gothic

Isabelline Gothic , is a style of the Crown of Castile during the reign of the Catholic Monarchs, who represents the transition between late Gothic and early Renaissance, with original features and decorative influences of Mudéjar art, Flanders and in a lesser extent, Italy.The Isabelline style...

), Italian

Renaissance architecture

and Flemish

Renaissance in the Netherlands

The Renaissance in the Low Countries is the cultural period that roughly corresponds to the 16th century in the Low Countries. In 1500 the Seventeen Provinces were in a personal union under the Burgundian Dukes, and with the Flemish cities as centers of gravity, culturally and economically formed...

contemporary art, as well as elements borrowed from Islamic (Mudéjar

Mudéjar

Mudéjar is the name given to individual Moors or Muslims of Al-Andalus who remained in Iberia after the Christian Reconquista but were not converted to Christianity...

) tradition. Manueline buildings are also often decorated with naturalistic motifs typical of the Age of Discovery

Age of Discovery

The Age of Discovery, also known as the Age of Exploration and the Great Navigations , was a period in history starting in the early 15th century and continuing into the early 17th century during which Europeans engaged in intensive exploration of the world, establishing direct contacts with...

, like spiralling motifs that remind of ropes used in ships, as well as a rich array of animal and vegetal motifs.

The first known building in Manueline style is the Monastery of Jesus of Setúbal

Monastery of Jesus of Setúbal

The Monastery of Jesus is a historical religious building in Setúbal, Portugal. It is one of the first buildings in the Manueline style, the Portuguese version of late Gothic...

. The church of the monastery was built from 1490 to 1510 by Diogo Boitac, an architect considered one of the main creators of the style. The nave

Nave

of the church has three aisle

Aisle

An aisle is, in general, a space for walking with rows of seats on both sides or with rows of seats on one side and a wall on the other...

s of equal height, revealing an attempt to unify inner space which reaches its climax in the nave of the church of the Jerónimos Monastery

Jerónimos Monastery

The Hieronymites Monastery is located near the shore of the parish of Belém, in the municipality of Lisbon, Portugal...

in Lisbon, finished in the 1520s by architect João de Castilho. The nave of the Setúbal Monastery is supported by spiralling columns, a typical Manueline feature that is also found in the nave of Guarda Cathedral and the parish churches of Olivenza

Olivenza

Olivenza or Olivença is a town in the autonomous community of Extremadura, situated on a disputed section of the border between Portugal and Spain...

, Freixo de Espada à Cinta, Montemor-o-Velho

Montemor-o-Velho

Montemor-o-Velho is a town and municipality of the Coimbra District, in Portugal. It has roughly 30,000 inhabitants.-Demographics:-Parishes:* Abrunheira* Arazede* Carapinheira* Ereira* Gatões* Liceia* Meãs do Campo* Montemor-o-Velho* Pereira...

and others. Manueline buildings also usually carry elaborate portals with spiralling columns, niches and loaded with Renaissance and Gothic decorative motifs, like in Jerónimos Monastery, Santa Cruz Monastery

Santa Cruz Monastery

of Coimbra and many others.

Renaissance and Mannerism (c.1520 - c.1650)

The adoption of the austere Renaissance style

Renaissance architecture

did not catch on well in Portugal. Introduced by a French architect in 1517, it was mainly practiced from the 1530s on by foreign architects and was therefore called estrangeirada (foreign-influenced). In later years this style slowly evolved into Mannerism

Mannerism

Mannerism is a period of European art that emerged from the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520. It lasted until about 1580 in Italy, when a more Baroque style began to replace it, but Northern Mannerism continued into the early 17th century throughout much of Europe...

. The painter and architect Francisco de Holanda

Francisco de Holanda

Francisco de Holanda , was a Portuguese humanist and painter. Considered to be one of the most important figures of the Portuguese Renaissance, he was also an essayist, architect, and historian...

, writer of the book Diálogos da Pintura Antiga ("Dialogues on Ancient Painting"), dissiminated in this treatise the fundamentals of this new style.

The basilica of Nossa Senhora da Conceição in Tomar

Tomar

Tomar Municipality has a total area of 351.0 km² and a total population of 43,007 inhabitants.The municipality is composed of 16 parishes, and is located in Santarém District...

was one of the earliest churches in pure Renaissance style. It was begun by the Castilian architect Diogo de Torralva in the period 1532-1540. Its beautiful and clear architecture turns it into one of the best early Renaissance buildings in Portugal. The small church of Bom Jesus de Valverde, south of Évora, attributed to both Manuel Pires and Diogo de Torralva, is another early example.

The most eminent example of this style is the Claustro de D. João III (Cloister of John III) in the Convent of the Order of Christ

Convent of the Order of Christ

The Convent of the Order of Christ is a religious building and Roman Catholic building in Tomar, Portugal, originally a Templar stronghold built in the 12th century...

in Tomar. Started under the Portuguese King João III

John III of Portugal

John III , nicknamed o Piedoso , was the fifteenth King of Portugal and the Algarves. He was the son of King Manuel I and Maria of Aragon, the third daughter of King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile...

, it was finished during the reign of Philip I of Portugal

Philip II of Spain

Philip II was King of Spain, Portugal, Naples, Sicily, and, while married to Mary I, King of England and Ireland. He was lord of the Seventeen Provinces from 1556 until 1581, holding various titles for the individual territories such as duke or count....

(also King of Spain

Spanish monarchy

The Monarchy of Spain, constitutionally referred to as The Crown and commonly referred to as the Spanish monarchy or Hispanic Monarchy, is a constitutional institution and an historic office of Spain...

under the name of Philip II). The first architect was the Spaniard Diogo de Torralva, who began the work in 1557, only to be finished in 1591 by Philip II's architect, the Italian Filippo Terzi. This magnificent, two-storey cloister is considered one of the most important examples of Mannerist architecture in Portugal.

However, the best known Portuguese architect in this period was Afonso Álvares

Afonso Álvares

Afonso Álvares was the Master of Works for the Portuguese king, Sebastian of Portugal, and he designed, amongst other structures, the Monastery of São Bento in Lisbon in 1571, which was lost in the 1755 Lisbon earthquake, and is now partially the site of the Portuguese Parliament.-Source:O Recreio...

, whose works include the cathedrals of Leiria

Leiria

Leiria is a city in Leiria Municipality in the Centro Region, Portugal. It is the capital of Leiria District. The city proper has 50,200 inhabitants and the entire municipality has nearly 120,000...

(1551–1574), Portalegre (begun 1556), and the Church of São Roque

Igreja de São Roque (Lisbon)

The Igreja de São Roque in Lisbon was the earliest Jesuit church in the Portuguese world, and one of the first Jesuit churches anywhere. It served as the Society’s home church in Portugal for over 200 years, before the Jesuits were expelled from that country...

in Lisbon. During this period he evolved into the Mannerist style.

This last church was completed by the Jesuit architect, the Italian Filippo Terzi

Filippo Terzi

Filippo Terzi was an Italian military and civil architect and engineer, born in Bologna, who went to Lisbon in 1577 and the following year joined the disastrous military expedition to Morocco where he was taken prisoner at the battle of Alcácer Quibir, after which his release was negotiated and...

, who also built the Jesuit college at Évora, the Monastery of São Vicente de Fora

Monastery of São Vicente de Fora

The Church or Monastery of São Vicente de Fora; meaning "Monastery of St. Vincent Outside the Walls" is a 17th century church and monastery in the city of Lisbon, in Portugal...

in Lisbon and the episcopal palace in Coimbra. He had an enormous production and, besides churches, he also built several aqueducts and fortresses.

In his wake came several Portuguese architects :

Miguel de Arruda : Church of Our Lady of Grace (in Évora)
Baltasar Álvares, best known for the Sé Nova in Coimbra and the Igreja de São Lourenço
São Lourenço
São Lourenço may refer to:*São Lourenço, Cape Verde, a village and a cove*São Lourenço, Minas Gerais, Brazil*São Lourenço , a parish in the municipality of Portalegre, Portugal...

in Porto.
Francisco Velasquez : Cathedral of Mirando do Douro and the designs for the monastery of S. Salvador (Grijó)
the military architect Manuel Pires : St. Anton's church in Évora.

Plain style (1580-1640)

During the union of Portugal and Spain, the period between 1580 and 1640, a new style developed called "Arquitecture chã" (plain architecture) by George Kubler. Basically mannerist, this style also marked by a clear structure, a sturdy appearance with smooth, flat surfaces and a moderate arrangement of space, lacking excessive decorations. It is a radical break with the decorative Manueline

Manueline

style. This simplified style, caused by limited financial resources, expresses itself in the construction of hall church

Hall church

A hall church is a church with nave and side aisles of approximately equal height, often united under a single immense roof. The term was first coined in the mid-19th century by the pioneering German art historian Wilhelm Lübke....

es and less impressive buildings. In resistance to the Baroque style

Baroque

The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...

that was already the standard in Spain, the Portuguese continued to apply the plain style to express their separate identity as a people.

Baltasar Alvares built some of the most impressive examples in this style : the Sé Nova of Coimbra (1598–1640), the S Lourenço or Grilos church in Porto (begun 1614) and the church S Antão in Lisbon (1613–1656; now destroyed)..
Other examples are the several Benedictine constructions in this period, such as the renovation by João Turriano of the Monastery of Tibães
Monastery of Tibães
The Monastery of St Martin of Tibães is a monastery situated in the parish of Mire de Tibães, near Braga, in northern Portugal. It was the mother house of the Benedictine order in Portugal and Brazil, and it is known for the exuberant Rococo decoration of its church.-History:The first information...

and the Monastery of São Bento
São Bento Palace
The Palácio de São Bento , "Saint Benedict's Palace", is the home of the Assembly of the Republic, the Portuguese parliament. It is located in Lisbon. Close to Bairro Alto, the Palace of São Bento was formerly known as the seat of the National Assembly during the Estado Novo regime...

(now the Portuguese Parliament
Assembly of the Republic
The Assembly of the Republic is the Portuguese parliament. It is located in a historical building in Lisbon, referred to as Palácio de São Bento, the site of an old Benedictine monastery...

).
Francisco de Mora
Francisco de Mora
Francisco de Mora was a Spanish Renaissance architect. He was uncle to the architect Juan Gómez de Mora and to the humanist Baltasar Porreño...

designed the convent of Nossa Senhora dos Remédios (Évora) for the order of the Discalced Carmelites
Discalced Carmelites
The Discalced Carmelites, or Barefoot Carmelites, is a Catholic mendicant order with roots in the eremitic tradition of the Desert Fathers and Mothers...

(1601–1614)
Pedro Nunes Tinoco designed in 1616 the church of S Marta (Lisbon) for the Order of the Poor Clares.

When king Filipe II

Philip III of Spain

Philip III , also known as Philip the Pious, was the King of Spain and King of Portugal and the Algarves, where he ruled as Philip II , from 1598 until his death...

made his Joyous Entry

Joyous Entry

A Joyous Entry was a local name used for the royal entry - the first official peaceable visit of a reigning monarch, prince, duke or governor into a city - mainly in the Duchy of Brabant or the County of Flanders and occasionally in France, Luxembourg or Hungary, often coinciding with...

in Lisbon in 1619, several temporary triumphal arches were erected in the Flemish

Flanders

Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...

style of Hans Vredeman de Vries

Hans Vredeman de Vries

Hans Vredeman de Vries was a Dutch Renaissance architect, painter, and engineer. Vredeman de Vries is known for his publication in 1583 on garden design and his books with many examples on ornaments and perspective ....

. The tract literature of Wendel Dietterlin

Wendel Dietterlin

Wendel Dietterlin , sometimes Wendel Dietterlin the Elder, to distinguish him from his son, was a German mannerist painter, printmaker and architectural theoretician...

also increased the interest in Flemish Baroque

Baroque

architecture

Dutch Baroque

Dutch Baroque architecture is a variety of Baroque architecture that flourished in the Dutch Republic and its colonies during the Dutch Golden Age of the 17th century - Dutch painting during the period is covered by Dutch Golden Age painting....

and art. This influence can be seen in the façade of the S Lourenço or Grilos church in Porto, begun in 1622 by Baltasar Alvares.

This was also the period of the rise of the azulejo

Azulejo

s and the use of carved gilded wood (talha dourada) on altars and ceilings.

Restoration architecture (1640-1717)

The Baroque style follows naturally from and is the expression of the Counter-Reformation

Counter-Reformation

The Counter-Reformation was the period of Catholic revival beginning with the Council of Trent and ending at the close of the Thirty Years' War, 1648 as a response to the Protestant Reformation.The Counter-Reformation was a comprehensive effort, composed of four major elements:#Ecclesiastical or...

, a reaction of the Roman Catholic Church

Roman Catholic Church

The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...

against the upcoming Protestantism

Protestantism

Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...

. But since the ideas of Protestantism did not take root at all in Portugal, the Baroque style did not really catch on at a time when it was the prevailing style in the rest of Europe. Furthermore, this style was too much associated with the Jesuits and Spanish rule.

Instead a new style, a transition from the Plain Style to Late Baroque, was adopted when Portugal regained its independence in 1640. It was a period of declining economic and military power, with fewer projects and lesser opulence as a consequence.

José Fernandes Pereira identified the first period from 1651 to 1690 as a period of experimentation.

The nobility were the first to show their regained power. A typical example is the Palace of the Marqueses da Fronteira in Benfica (Lisbon) (started in 1667). This country manor house
Manor house
A manor house is a country house that historically formed the administrative centre of a manor, the lowest unit of territorial organisation in the feudal system in Europe. The term is applied to country houses that belonged to the gentry and other grand stately homes...

still follows Italian Mannerism examples, but there is already a heavy influence of the Baroque style in the perfect harmony of the house and the surrounding gardens, the splendour of the staircase and the many iconographic, decorative elements in the rooms. The large azulejo
Azulejo
Azulejo from the Arabic word Zellige زليج is a form of Portuguese or Spanish painted, tin-glazed, ceramic tilework. They have become a typical aspect of Portuguese culture, having been produced without interruption for five centuries...

s (tile panels) covering the walls with equestrian portraits, historical battle scenes or trumpet-blowing monkeys, created by the workshops of Jan van Oort and Willem van der Kloet in Amsterdam, are unique.

The Piedmontese Theatine
Theatines
The Theatines or the Congregation of Clerks Regular of the Divine Providence are a male religious order of the Catholic Church, with the post-nominal initials "C.R."-Foundation:...

priest and architect Camillo-Guarino Guarini
Camillo-Guarino Guarini
thumb|300px|The [[Carignano Palace]] in Turin.Camillo-Guarino Guarini was an Italian architect of the Piedmontese Baroque, active in Turin as well as Sicily, France, and Portugal. He was a Theatine priest, mathematician, and writer.-Biography:Guarini was born in Modena...

designed the church of Santa Maria della Divina Providência in Lisbon. The elliptical floor plan
Floor plan
In architecture and building engineering, a floor plan, or floorplan, is a diagram, usually to scale, showing a view from above of the relationships between rooms, spaces and other physical features at one level of a structure....

, adopted in the church, stands apart in the Portuguese 17th century architecture. But his sketchbook however showed a different floor plan and elevation. Even if his designs, influenced by the Roman Baroque architect Francesco Borromini
Francesco Borromini
Francesco Borromini, byname of Francesco Castelli was an architect from Ticino who, with his contemporaries, Gian Lorenzo Bernini and Pietro da Cortona, was a leading figure in the emergence of Roman Baroque architecture.A keen student of the architecture of Michelangelo and the ruins of...

, were not exactly followed in this church, they were often publicized and they spread the influence of Borromini in Portugal.

Other realisations in this period include :
- Jacome Mendes : the church of Nossa Senhora da Piedade (in Santarém
  Santarém, Portugal
  Santarém is a city in the Santarém Municipality in Portugal. The city itself has a population of 28,760 and the entire municipality has 64,124 inhabitants.It is the capital of Santarém District....
  
  , 1665)
- The church of S. Agostinho (1667) in Vila Viçosa
  Vila Viçosa
  Vila Viçosa is a municipality in Portugal with a total area of 195.0 km² and a total population of 8,745 inhabitants.The municipality is composed of 5 parishes, and is located in the District of Évora....
- João Turriano : the Monastery of S Clara-a-Velha in Coimbra
  Coimbra
  Coimbra is a city in the municipality of Coimbra in Portugal. Although it served as the nation's capital during the High Middle Ages, it is better-known for its university, the University of Coimbra, which is one of the oldest in Europe and the oldest academic institution in the...
  
  (1649–1696)
- The church of Portimão
  Portimão
  Portimão is a Portuguese town located in the District of Faro in the Region of Algarve, the southern coast of Portugal. It was formerly known as Vila Nova de Portimão . In 1924, it was incorporated as a cidade and became known merely as Portimão. The town has 41,000 inhabitants and the Portimão...
  
  , possibly by João Nunes Tinoco (1660).

The next period, between 1690 and 1717, saw the cautious introduction of the Baroque style in Portugal.
The Church of Santa Engrácia

Church of Santa Engrácia

The Church of Santa Engrácia is a 17th century monument of the city of Lisbon, in Portugal. In the 20th century the church has been converted into the National Pantheon , in which important Portuguese personalities are buried...

(now the National Pantheon of Santa Engracia), begun in 1682 by João Nunes Tinoco and continued by João Antunes

João Antunes

João Antunes was a Portuguese architect, considered one of the most important Baroque architects of Portugal.As royal architect, Antunes' main work is the Church of Santa Engrácia in Lisbon, a Greek cross building with curved façades typical of the Baroque architecture of Borromini...

is a centralised structure, built in the form of a Greek cross (a cross with arms of equal length), crowned with a central dome (only completed in 1966 !) and the façades are ondulated like in the Baroque designs of Borromini. . It goes back to a design by the Italian architect Donato Bramante

Donato Bramante

Donato Bramante was an Italian architect, who introduced the Early Renaissance style to Milan and the High Renaissance style to Rome, where his most famous design was St...

of the St. Peter's Basilica

St. Peter's Basilica

The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter , officially known in Italian as ' and commonly known as Saint Peter's Basilica, is a Late Renaissance church located within the Vatican City. Saint Peter's Basilica has the largest interior of any Christian church in the world...

in Rome. It is perhaps the only truly Baroque building in Portugal. This time Rome, instead of Flanders, became the example to be followed for the construction of buildings.

The church of Senhor da Cruz in Barcelos

Barcelos, Portugal

, built by João Antunes in 1701-1704 is an unusual experiment because of its four-leaf clover

Four-leaf clover

The four-leaf clover is an uncommon variation of the common, three-leaved clover. According to tradition, such leaves bring good luck to their finders, especially if found accidentally...

plan.

Baroque style (1717-1755)

The year 1697 is an important year for Portuguese architecture. In that year gold, gems and later diamonds were found in Minas Gerais

Minas Gerais

Minas Gerais is one of the 26 states of Brazil, of which it is the second most populous, the third richest, and the fourth largest in area. Minas Gerais is the Brazilian state with the largest number of Presidents of Brazil, the current one, Dilma Rousseff, being one of them. The capital is the...

, Brazil. Mining exploration was strongly controlled by the Portuguese Crown, which imposed heavy taxes on everything extracted (one fifth of all gold would go to the Crown). These enormous proceeds caused Portugal to prosper and become the richest country of Europe in the 18th century. King João V, who reigned between 1706 and 1750, tried to rival the French king Louis XIV

Louis XIV of France

Louis XIV , known as Louis the Great or the Sun King , was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre. His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, began at the age of four and lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days...

, also called the Sun King, by engaging in a large number of expensive building activities. But the French king could rely on local experience for the glorification and his name and of France. The Palace of Versailles

Palace of Versailles

The Palace of Versailles , or simply Versailles, is a royal château in Versailles in the Île-de-France region of France. In French it is the Château de Versailles....

was transformed for Louis XIV into a marvelous palace by architect Louis Le Vau

Louis Le Vau

Louis Le Vau was a French Classical architect who worked for Louis XIV of France. He was born and died in Paris.He was responsible, with André Le Nôtre and Charles Le Brun, for the redesign of the château of Vaux-le-Vicomte. His later works included the Palace of Versailles and his collaboration...

, painter and designer Charles Le Brun

Charles Le Brun

Charles Le Brun , a French painter and art theorist, became the all-powerful, peerless master of 17th-century French art.-Biography:-Early life and training:...

and the landscape architect

Landscape architect

A landscape architect is a person involved in the planning, design and sometimes direction of a landscape, garden, or distinct space. The professional practice is known as landscape architecture....

André Le Nôtre

André Le Nôtre was a French landscape architect and the principal gardener of King Louis XIV of France...

. The Portuguese king, on the other hand, had to make up the lack of local experience and tradition with foreign artists who were lured to Portugal with huge amounts of money.

King João V squandered his money lavishly, starting numerous building projects, many of which were never finished.

The Mafra National Palace

Mafra National Palace

The Mafra National Palace is a monumental Baroque and Italianized Neoclassical palace-monastery located in Mafra, Portugal, some 28 kilometres from Lisbon. Its dimensions are so huge that it dwarfs the city...

is among the most sumptuous Baroque buildings in Portugal. This monumental palace-monastery-church complex is even larger than the El Escorial

El Escorial

The Royal Seat of San Lorenzo de El Escorial is a historical residence of the king of Spain, in the town of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, about 45 kilometres northwest of the capital, Madrid, in Spain. It is one of the Spanish royal sites and functions as a monastery, royal palace, museum, and...

, an immense 16th century Spanish royal palace north of Madrid

Madrid

Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...

to emphasize the symbolic affirmation of his power. The king appointed Johann Friedrich Ludwig (known in Portugal as João Frederico Ludovice) as the architect. This German goldsmith (!) had received some experience as an architect, working for the Jesuits in Rome. His design for the palace is a synthesis of St. Peter's Basilica

St. Peter's Basilica

in the Vatican

Vatican City

Vatican City , or Vatican City State, in Italian officially Stato della Città del Vaticano , which translates literally as State of the City of the Vatican, is a landlocked sovereign city-state whose territory consists of a walled enclave within the city of Rome, Italy. It has an area of...

, the Jesuit Sant'Ignazio

Sant'Ignazio

The Church of Saint Ignatius of Loyola at Campus Martius is Roman Catholic titular church dedicated to Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuit order, located in Rome, Italy...

church in Rome and the Palazzo Montecitorio

Palazzo Montecitorio

The Palazzo Montecitorio is a palace in Rome and the seat of the Italian Chamber of Deputies.- History :The building was originally designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini for the young Cardinal Ludovico Ludovisi, nephew of Pope Gregory XV...

, designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini

Gian Lorenzo Bernini

Gian Lorenzo Bernini was an Italian artist who worked principally in Rome. He was the leading sculptor of his age and also a prominent architect...

.

This design was in line with the king's desire to imitate the Eternal City

Rome

Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

, and with his ambition to found a "second Rome" at the river Tagus

Tagus

. His envoys in Rome had to provide the king with models and floor plans of many Roman monuments

Roman architecture

Ancient Roman architecture adopted certain aspects of Ancient Greek architecture, creating a new architectural style. The Romans were indebted to their Etruscan neighbors and forefathers who supplied them with a wealth of knowledge essential for future architectural solutions, such as hydraulics...

On of these was the Patriarchal palace in Lisbon. The Piedmontese architect Filippo Juvarra

Filippo Juvarra

Filippo Juvarra was an Italian architect and stage set designer.-Biography:Filippo Juvarra was an Italian Baroque architect working in the early part of the eighteenth century. He was born in Messina, Sicily, to a family of goldsmiths and engravers...

was brought to Lisbon to draw up the plans. But this project was also toned down because Juvarra only stayed for a few months and left – against his engagement – to London.

Other important constructions were :

1729-1748 : the Águas Livres aqueduct
Águas Livres Aqueduct
The Águas Livres Aqueduct is a historic aqueduct in the city of Lisbon, Portugal. It is one of the most remarkable examples of 18th-century Portuguese engineering...

in Lisbon (by Manuel da Maia, Antonio Canevari and Custódio Vieira), described by contemporaties as the ‘greatest work since the Romans’. It provided Lisbon with water, but also the many new monumental fountains built by the Hungarian Carlos Mardel
1728-1732 : the Quinta de S Antão do Tojal (by the Italian architect Antonio Canevari)
1753 : the Opera house of Lisbon (destroyed 1755) (by Giovanni Carlo Sicinio-Bibiena)
(completed in 1750) Palace of Necessidades
Palace of Necessidades
The Palace of Necessidades is a historical building in the Largo do Rilvas, a public square in Lisbon, Portugal...

(by Eugenio dos Santos, Custodio Vieira, Manuel da Costa Negreiros and Caetano Tomas de Sousa)
from 1747 : the Queluz Palace, the country residence for the king's younger brother (by Mateus Vicente de Oliveira and Jean-Baptiste Robillon). This palace is the country's second major example in Baroque style. However the façade shows already some Rococo
Rococo
Rococo , also referred to as "Late Baroque", is an 18th-century style which developed as Baroque artists gave up their symmetry and became increasingly ornate, florid, and playful...

details.

His most spectacular undertaking was however the building in Rome of the St John the Baptist

John the Baptist

John the Baptist was an itinerant preacher and a major religious figure mentioned in the Canonical gospels. He is described in the Gospel of Luke as a relative of Jesus, who led a movement of baptism at the Jordan River...

chapel with the single purpose of obtaining the blessing of the pope Benedict XIV

Pope Benedict XIV

Pope Benedict XIV , born Prospero Lorenzo Lambertini, was Pope from 17 August 1740 to 3 May 1758.-Life:...

for this chapel. The chapel was designed by Luigi Vanvitelli

Luigi Vanvitelli

Luigi Vanvitelli was an Italian engineer and architect. The most prominent 18th-century architect of Italy, he practiced a sober classicizing academic Late Baroque style that made an easy transition to Neoclassicism.-Biography:Vanvitelli was born at Naples, the son of a Dutch painter of land and...

in 1742 and built by Nicola Salvi

Nicola Salvi

Nicola Salvi or Niccolò Salvi was an Italian architect most famous for the Trevi Fountain in Rome, where he was born and died. His work is in the late Roman Baroque style. In addition to the Trevi Fountain, Salvi did minor works such as churches and the enlargement of the Odescalchi Palace with...

in the church S Antonio dei Portoghesi. After the benediction, the chapel was disassembled and transported to Lisbon. It was assembled again in 1747 in the S Roque church. It is opulently decorated with porphyry

Porphyry (geology)

Porphyry is a variety of igneous rock consisting of large-grained crystals, such as feldspar or quartz, dispersed in a fine-grained feldspathic matrix or groundmass. The larger crystals are called phenocrysts...

, the rarest marbles and precious stones

Gemstone

A gemstone or gem is a piece of mineral, which, in cut and polished form, is used to make jewelry or other adornments...

. Its design already foreshadows the classical revival.

A different and more exuberant Baroque style with some Rococo

Rococo

Rococo , also referred to as "Late Baroque", is an 18th-century style which developed as Baroque artists gave up their symmetry and became increasingly ornate, florid, and playful...

touches, more reminiscent of the style in Central Europe

Central Europe

Central Europe or alternatively Middle Europe is a region of the European continent lying between the variously defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe...

, developed in the northern part of Portugal. The Italian architect Nicolau Nasoni

Nicolau Nasoni

Nicolau Nasoni was an Italian artist and architect but mostly active in Portugal....

designed the church and the spectacular granite tower of São Pedro dos Clérigos

Clérigos Church

The Clérigos Church is a Baroque church in the city of Porto, in Portugal. Its tall bell tower, the Torre dos Clérigos, can be seen from various points of the city and is one of its most characteristic symbols....

in Porto

Porto

Porto , also known as Oporto in English, is the second largest city in Portugal and one of the major urban areas in the Iberian Peninsula. Its administrative limits include a population of 237,559 inhabitants distributed within 15 civil parishes...

. One of his successors was the painter and architect José de Figueiredo Seixas, who had been one of his disciples. The sanctuary Bom Jesus do Monte

Bom Jesus do Monte

thumb|250px|Stairway and church of Bom Jesus do Monte.Bom Jesus do Monte is a Portuguese sanctuary in Tenões, surroundings of the city of Braga, in northern Portugal. Its name means Good Jesus of the Mount....

near Braga, built by the architect Carlos Luis Ferreira Amarante is a notable example of a pilgrimage site with a monumental, cascading Baroque stairway that climbs 116 metres. This last example already shows the shift in style to Neo-classicism.

The Palácio do Raio (by André Soares

André Soares

André Soares Ribeiro da Silva, more commonly known as André Soares was a leading Portuguese sculptor and architect active in Northern Portugal during the 18th century....

) is an outstanding Baroque-Rococo urban palace with richly decorated façade in Braga

Braga

. Several country houses and manors in late-Baroque style were built in this period. Typical examples are the homes of the Lobo-Machado family (in Guimarães

Guimarães

), the Malheiro (Viana do Castelo) and the Mateus

Mateus Palace

The Mateus Palace is a palace located in the civil parish of Mateus, municipality of Vila Real, Portugal. Architect Nicolau Nasoni was involved in the project for the construction of the palace, which took place in the 18th century.- External links :*...

(Vila Real).

Pombaline style (1755-1860)

Main article : Pombaline style

Pombaline style

The 1755 Lisbon earthquake

1755 Lisbon earthquake

The 1755 Lisbon earthquake, also known as the Great Lisbon Earthquake, was a megathrust earthquake that took place on Saturday 1 November 1755, at around 9:40 in the morning. The earthquake was followed by fires and a tsunami, which almost totally destroyed Lisbon in the Kingdom of Portugal, and...

and the subsequent tsunami and fires destroyed many buildings in Lisbon

Lisbon

. Joseph I of Portugal and his Prime Minister Sebastião de Melo, Marquis of Pombal

Sebastião de Melo, Marquis of Pombal

Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo, 1st Count of Oeiras, 1st Marquess of Pombal Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo, 1st Count of Oeiras, 1st Marquess of Pombal Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo, 1st Count of Oeiras, 1st Marquess of Pombal ((Marquês de Pombal, ; 13 May 1699–8 May 1782) was an 18th...

hired architects and engineers to rebuild the damaged portions of Lisbon, including the Pombaline Downtown

Pombaline Downtown

The Pombaline Lower Town area covers about 235,620 square metres of central Lisbon, Portugal. It comprises the grid of streets north of the Praça do Comércio, roughly between the Cais do Sodré and the Alfama district beneath the Lisbon Castle, and extends northwards towards the Rossio and...

.

The Pombaline style is a secular, utilitarian architecture marked by pragmatism

Pragmatism

Pragmatism is a philosophical tradition centered on the linking of practice and theory. It describes a process where theory is extracted from practice, and applied back to practice to form what is called intelligent practice...

. It follows the Plain style of the military engineers, with regular, rational arrangements, mixed with Rococo details and a Neo-classical approach to structure. The Baixa district of Lisbon

Lisboa (district)

Lisbon District is a district located in the South Central Portugal, the district capital is the city of Lisbon, also the national capital.-Municipalities:The district is composed of 16 municipalities:* Alenquer Municipality* Amadora Municipality...

was rebuilt by Eugénio dos Santos and Carlos Mardel. The Marquis of Pombal imposed strict conditions on the rebuilding. Architectural models were tested by having troops march around them to simulate an earthquake, making the Pombaline one of the first examples of earthquake-resistant construction. The Praça do Comércio

Praça do Comércio

The Praça do Comércio is located in the city of Lisbon, Portugal. Situated near the Tagus river, the square is still commonly known as Terreiro do Paço , because it was the location of the Paços da Ribeira until it was destroyed by the great 1755 Lisbon Earthquake...

, the Augusta street and the Avenida da Liberdade are notable examples of this architecture. This Square of Commerce was given a regular, rational arrangement in line with the reconstruction of the new Pombaline Downtown, the Baixa.

The Pombaline style of architecture is also to be found in Vila Real de Santo António (1773–4) a new town in the Algarve, built by Reinaldo Manuel dos Santos. The style is clearly visible in the urban arrangement and especially in the main square.

In Porto

Porto

, at the initiative of the prison governor João de Almada e Melo, the Rua de S João was reconstructed (after 1757), and the Relação law court, the Court of Appeal Gaol (1765) and the prison were rebuilt. The British colony

British overseas territories

The British Overseas Territories are fourteen territories of the United Kingdom which, although they do not form part of the United Kingdom itself, fall under its jurisdiction. They are remnants of the British Empire that have not acquired independence or have voted to remain British territories...

of port traders introduced the Palladian architecture

Palladian architecture

Palladian architecture is a European style of architecture derived from the designs of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio . The term "Palladian" normally refers to buildings in a style inspired by Palladio's own work; that which is recognised as Palladian architecture today is an evolution of...

in the Praça da Ribeira (1776–1782), the Factory House (1785–1790) and the S Antonio Hospital (1770).

Modern Architecture

Portugal’s longstanding traditions, geographic isolation, extended period under an autoritarian government, along with a group of very talented architects, have kept Portuguese architecture clean of capricious imitations. Portugal has an architecture that carefully evolved within the local tradition through a balanced process of absorbing universal influences, until slowly emerging onto the center stage of the architecture world.

One of the top architecture schools in the world, known as "Escola do Porto" or School of Porto

Porto

, is located in Portugal. Its alumni include Fernando Távora

Fernando Távora

Fernando Luís Cardoso de Meneses de Tavares e Távora, simply known as Fernando Távora , was a renowned Portuguese architect and professor....

, Álvaro Siza (winner of the 1992 Pritzker

Pritzker Prize

The Pritzker Architecture Prize is awarded annually by the Hyatt Foundation to honour "a living architect whose built work demonstrates a combination of those qualities of talent, vision and commitment, which has produced consistent and significant contributions to humanity and the built...

prize) and Eduardo Souto de Moura

Eduardo Souto de Moura

(winner of the 2011 Pritzker

Pritzker Prize

prize). Its modern heir is the Faculdade de Arquitectura (School of Architecture)

Porto School of Architecture

The Faculty of Architecture of the University of Porto , or FAUP, is an architecture faculty located in Porto, Portugal, and one of the thirteen constituent faculties of the University of Porto.- History :...

of the University of Porto

University of Porto

The University of Porto is a Portuguese public university located in Porto, and founded 22 March 1911. It is the largest Portuguese university by number of enrolled students and has one of the most noted research outputs in Portugal...

.

Although Portuguese architecture is usually associated with the internationally accredited Alvaro Siza, there are others equally responsible for the positive trends in current architecture. "Many Portuguese architects are sons of Siza, but Tavora is a grandfather to all of us." The influence of Sizas own teacher, Fernando Tavora, echoes across generations.

The Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, built in 1960s and designed by Rui Atouguia, Pedro Cid and Alberto Pessoa, is one of the very best, defining examples of 20th-century Portuguese architecture.

In Portugal Tomás Taveira

Tomás Taveira

Tomás Taveira is a Portuguese architect. He is among Portugal's most highly-acclaimed architects born in the 20th century. He has a degree in architecture from the Technical University of Lisbon and owns a post-graduation from the MIT...

is also noteworthy, particularly due to stadium design. Other renowned Portuguese architects include Pancho Guedes

Pancho Guedes

Pancho Guedes, often Amancio Guedes is a Portuguese architect, sculptor, and painter. An archetype Eclectic Modernist born in Lisbon, Portugal, he went to the Portuguese territory of Mozambique when he was 7 years old...

and Gonçalo Byrne

Gonçalo Byrne

Gonçalo Byrne, GCIH is a Portuguese architect.Byrne is responsible for a vast accomplishment of architectural work, and has been awarded with many national and international prizes....

.

Carrilho da Graça

Carrilho da Graça

João Luís Carrilho da Graça, , graduated from ESBAL in 1977 and lectured at the faculty of architecture of the Technical University of Lisbon between 1977 and 1992....

’s Centro de Documentação da Presidência da República (Documentation Archive of the President of the Portuguese Republic), is one of Lisbon’s best-kept architectural secrets.

External links

Portuguese Architecture by Walter Crum Watson, available free (in HTML or plain text) at gutenberg.org

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.