Belém Tower

Francisco de Arruda built the tower between 1514 and 1519 as part of a defence system for the Tagus begun by João II and finished under Manuel I. A medieval-style keep rises behind a modern artillery bastion whose gun ports sit low over the water. The details are pure Manueline: sentry boxes with ribbed domes, shields with the Cross of the Order of Christ, a loggia facing the river and, under one sentry box, a carved rhinoceros, probably inspired by the one that reached Lisbon from India in 1515.

UNESCO listed the tower with the Jerónimos Monastery in 1983. It reopened on 27 May 2026 after its first major works since 1998, with 30-minute time slots and at most 60 visitors inside at once.