At the end of the 15th century, King D. João II of Portugal commissioned the Tower of Belém as part of a tripartite defensive network to protect the port of Lisbon. Originally, a man-of-war called the Grande Nau, or big vessel, guarded the estuary where the Tagus River flowed into Lisbon harbor until it was decided one of these new fortresses would replace it. (...)
At the end of the 15th century, King D. João II of Portugal commissioned the Tower of Belém as part of a tripartite defensive network to protect the port of Lisbon. Originally, a man-of-war called the Grande Nau, or big vessel, guarded the estuary where the Tagus River flowed into Lisbon harbor until it was decided one of these new fortresses would replace it. When construction began under Manuel I, the king's successor, the foundations of the fortress were built on the same basalt outcropping the Grande Nau used as its mooring. Between 1514-1519, as the tower and its hull-shaped bastion below were fully realized in cream-colored Lioz limestone, the fortress came to resemble a galleon petrified in stone. At the time, Belem had become a vital launching point for Portuguese exploration abroad and this is reflected in the Manueline tower's design. From its naval-inspired exterior motifs to the vented casemate, which was designed to accommodate the new developments in 16th century artillery that helped to solidify Portugal's maritime empire, the tower's architecture crystallizes an age in which Portugal became the first commercial and maritime empire in early modern Europe.
