Santa Maria de Belém

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Santa Maria de Belém Parish coat of arms
Municipality	Lisbon
Area	3.39 km²
Population  - Total  - Density	9,752 (2001) 2,878/km²
Website: http://www.jf-belem.pt/

Santa Maria de Belém, or just Belém, pron. IPA: ['sɐ̃tɐ mɐ'ɾiɐ dɨ bɨ'lɐ̃ĩ]) is a parish of Lisbon, Portugal, located 6km west of the present city centre and 2km west of Ponte 25 de Abril (25th of April Bridge). Its name is derived from the Portuguese for Bethlehem.

Belém is famous as the place from which the great Portuguese explorers set off on their voyages of discovery. In particular, it is the place from which Vasco da Gama departed for India in 1497. It is also a former royal residence and features the 17th-18th century Belém Palace, former royal residence and now occupied by the President of Portugal, and the Ajuda Palace, begun in 1802 but never completed.

Perhaps Belém's most famous feature is its tower, Torre de Belém, whose image is much used by Lisbon's tourist board. The tower was built as a fortified lighthouse late in the reign of Dom Manuel (1515-1520) to guard the entrance to the port at Belém. It stood on a little island in right side of the Tagus, surrounded by water.

Belém's other major historical building is the Mosteiro dos Jerónimos (Jerónimos Monastery), which the Torre de Belém was built partly to defend. The building of the monastery, an example of Manueline architecture, was begun in 1502 on the instructions of Manuel I and took 50 years to complete. It was built as a monument to Vasco da Gama's successful voyage to India and was funded by a tax on eastern spices. The monastery contains the tomb of Vasco da Gama. Located in the wings of the monastery are the Museu de Arqueologia (Archaeological Museum) and the Museu da Marinha (Maritime Museum).

Belém's most notable modern feature is the Padrão dos Descobrimentos (Monument to the Discoveries). This is a 52m high slab of concrete, erected in 1960 to commemorate the 600th anniversary of the death of Henry the Navigator. The monument is carved into the shape of the prow of a ship in which stand statues of various explorers, as well as a statue of Henry himself. Adjacent to the monument is a square into whose surface is set a map showing the routes of various Portuguese explorers.

In the heart of Belém is the Praça do Império: gardens centred upon a large fountain, laid out during World War II. To the west of the gardens lies the Centro Cultural de Belém. This was built for Portugal's 1992 presidency of the EU. It is now an arts complex, containing Belém's Museu do Design (Design Museum). To the southeast of the gardens is the Paço de Belém (1770), the official residence of the Portuguese President. Five hundred metres to the east of Praça do Império lies Belém's other major square Praça Afonso de Albuquerque.

Belém is home to a number of other museums, many of which were established by Salazar for the 1940 Belém Expo: Museu da Electricidade (Electricity Museum), Museu do Centro Científico e Cultural de Macau (Macao Cultural Museum), Museu de Arte Popular (Folk Art Museum) and Museu dos Coches (Coach Museum).

Belenenses, a renowned sports club from Lisbon is based in Belém.

Belém's main street is Rua de Belém, in which there is a 160-year-old pastry shop, at which can be purchased one of the famous pastel de Belém (plural: pastéis de Belém) - custard tarts made with flaky pastry.

[edit] References

• Encyclopaedia Britannica Standard Edition CD ROM, 2002.
• Hancock, Matthew. The Rough Guide to Lisbon, Rough Guides Ltd, London, 2003. ISBN 1-85-828906-8
• Weimer, Alois & Weimer-Langer, Britta. Portugal, GeoCenter International Ltd., Basingstoke, UK, 2000. ISBN 3-82-976110-4