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The build
Francisco de Arruda designed the tower, finished in 1519
The tower was designed by military architect Francisco de Arruda and started on a basaltic rock outcrop a short distance from the riverbank. It was finished in 1519 and named the Castle of St Vincent, for the patron saint of Lisbon.
A myth
The story that the river was redirected after 1755 is wrong
It has been wrongly stated that the tower was built in the middle of the Tagus and now sits near the shore because the river was redirected after the 1755 earthquake. In fact it was built on a small island near the Lisbon shore.
The rhinoceros
A carved rhinoceros recalls a gift to King Manuel from an Indian ruler
The best example is the carved rhinoceros, the result of an offer from an Indian ruler to King Dom Manuel. It is said to be the same one that Albrecht Dürer would immortalize in his drawings.
1580
After a few hours of battle in 1580 the garrison surrendered
In 1580, after a few hours of battle, the garrison stationed in the tower surrendered to Spanish forces under the Duke of Alba. The dungeons of the tower then served as a prison until 1830.
Restoration
A full restoration ran from February 1997 to January 1998
A full restoration lasted from February 1997 to January 1998. It reinforced the tower and bastion and the south balcony supports. In 1999 the project received the Europa Nostra award for its restoration of the exterior.
Day 3, midday
It comes after Jerónimos Monastery. Then Padrão dos Descobrimentos.
More stories from this trip idea
The words are a retelling of the Wikipedia article Belém Tower, and are shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. They are checked against those articles, and a fact that is not in them is left out.