Da Gama prayed for a safe voyage in a tiny chapel here. Upon his return, a grateful king and country expanded that into the Mosteiro dos Jerónimos. (That is the monastery of St. Jerome, and it has nothing at all to do with Geronimo, the Apache, speaking of Indians.)
The church is a large Gothic structure. Da Gama's tomb is there. It also says much about Portugese culture that he shares top billing here with a monument to the poet, Luis de Camoes (described as Portugal's Shakespeare) who wrote the epic poem celebrating da Gama's voyage. So Vasco and his PR guy are both celebrated here!
That's one of the things we've noted everywhere in Portugal. There are military monuments, but probably just as many celebrations of poets, authors, musicians, philosophers, historians, and other academics.
Indeed, the cloister attached to this church was refurbished as a monument to an academic, after the monks had been kicked out with the dissolution of religious orders here in the 1830s. Historian and novelist Alexandre Herculano is buried in the former Chapter House of the monastery, with a poet, a playwrite, and a couple others nearby.
The cloister is quite grand -- a 2-story affair with lots of intricate carving. And it's big. There were a lot of monks here at one time.
In keeping with the nautical theme, the "Library of Navigation" is also located here, with a maritime museum next door. Across the street, on the riverbank is the Monument to the Discoveries, which celebrates the early navigators and their patrons.
Finally, we walked down to the actual mouth of the river to visit the Tower of Belem. This was a canonade built in 1520 to defend the harbor. For the mariners heading to sea, it would be the last of Portugal that they would see, and the first of home they would glimpse upon return.
On the way back to the tram, we stopped to sample "natas," a traditional pastry that is pretty darned good when hot right out of the oven.
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