Tower of Saint Vincent
August 2017
The project was started on a basaltic rock outcrop a short distance from the riverbank, using some of the stone being collected to build the Monastery of Santa Maria de Belém. The tower was designed by military architect Francisco de Arruda, named "Master of the works of the Belém stronghold" by King Manuel, and in 1516 he began receiving 763 blocks and 504 stones for its construction, delivered by Diogo Rodrigues, treasurer for the project.
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The building was finished in 1519, just two years before Manuel's death, and Gaspar de Paiva was temporarily stationed to command the fortress; his commission was made permanent on 15 September 1521, when he was appointed the first Captain-General, or alcalde, and the fortress was named the Castle of St Vincent (Castelo de São Vicente de Belém), in honour of the patron saint of Lisbon.
(Wikipedia)
After seeing the fantastic Mosteiro dos Jerónimos [see: Mosteiro dos Jerónimos, Belém] and the somewhat tragic, white slab that is the Padrão dos Descobrimentos [see: Padrão dos Descobrimentos, Belém], I stumbled upon this very old tower on the water's edge. If the monument of "discovery" nearby appeared out of place, the old guard tower of Belém looked equally foreign in its location. Like some giant had walked to a castle in Portugal and tore off one guard tower and planted it on the river's edge, the Tower of St Vincent stood somewhat forlorn on the shore.
In fact, when I first arrived, the entry queue was long because it was part of every bus tour out of Lisbon. I realized it was only a matter of proper timing to see it (between busloads of tourists), so I walked up to the Discovery Monument to kill some time and then back back to the old tower when the wait was shorter. The weather was fabulous and the views over the Tagus River from the top were breezy and expansive. The tower itself was mostly a series of empty rooms - the place certainly was small. For a fortification protecting Lisbon, there wasn't too much to it. Nevertheless, from that spot the Portuguese Man o' War ships set sail to make war, to trade, and to "discover" the world. No doubt a place of great history for the West, it now appears as just a strange old tower, out of sync with its surroundings. Along with the Discovery Monument, the pair look out over the huge river estuary to memorialize a time in history from a now almost forgotten country that changed the world.