Manueline, Portuguese Manuelino, particularly rich and lavish style of architectural ornamentation indigenous to Portugal in the early 16th century. The architectural style of these buildings was named after the king and was reflective of the age with elaborate stonework featuring motifs inspired by both maritime and Christian themes. Manueline architecture, as it is known, is at its heart Late Gothic, but what defines it is the use of lavish, themed ornamentation. Doorways, columns and windows would be encrusted in opulently carved stonework which might be considered over the top if it were not so beautiful.
Although the Manueline style actually continued for some time after the death of Manuel I (reigned 1495–1521), it is the prosperity of his reign that the style celebrates.
1. Mosteiro de Jesus – Setúbal
The Monastery of Jesus is a historical religious building in Setúbal, Portugal, which served a monastery of Poor Clare nuns. It is one of the first buildings in the Manueline style, the Portuguese version of late Gothic. The cloisters of the complex houses a museum of the monastery
2. Monastery of Santa Cruz – Coimbra
The Santa Cruz Monastery, best known as Igreja de Santa Cruz, is a National Monument in Coimbra, Portugal. Because the first two kings of Portugal are buried in the church it was granted the status of National Pantheon.
3. Jeronimos Monastery – Lisbon
The Jerónimos Monastery was built during most of the 16th century in the Manueline style. It was built at a time when Portugal had an empire and was in the mood to show the World its status through a plethora of monuments and palaces
One of the first and definitely grandest examples of Manueline architecture to be found anywhere in Portugal; the Jerónimos Monastery in Belem is the embodiment of Portugal’s exuberance during the Age of Discoveries. This is recognised by the UNESCO World Heritage monument the monastery received in 1983.
4. Torre de Belem
The Belém Tower, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is one of Lisbon’s most striking monuments and the icon of a country historically moulded by its proximity to the ocean and its maritime discoveries of new worlds.
Discoveries by Portuguese navigators transformed Lisbon into the world’s main trade hub in the 15th and 16th centuries.
To protect the city, King João II conceived a pioneer project to defend Lisbon from enemy ships, a work completed in 1514 and which included the building of the Belém Tower, designed by architect Francisco de Arruda.
The tower’s unique design includes a modern and heavily armed bastion, protruding over the river.
The Torre de Belem (Belem Tower) is an outstanding example of the exuberance of Manueline architecture. Built during the last years of Manuel I’s reign it is one of only a few structures in Portugal that are purely Manueline in design with the others being adaptations of existing buildings, or incorporating later architectural styles.
5. Batalha Monastery
The Mosteiro de Santa Maria da Vitória or Batalha Monastery as it is generally known is both enormous and impressive whilst at the same time beautiful. It was built to commemorate the great military victory against the Castilians of the Battle of Aljubarrota in 1385 and work began the following year. It took almost 100 years to build the vast Gothic abbey which formed the basis of what we see today.
Over the following centuries, Batalha became one of Portugal’s most important national monuments and money was lavished upon it by successive kings. But it was in the 16th century when Portugal was at its richest that transformed beyond its initial Gothic form into what is a dazzling example of Manueline style.
6. Convento de Cristo
The Convent of Christ is a former Roman Catholic convent in Tomar, Portugal. Originally a 12th century Templar stronghold, when the order was dissolved in the 14th century the Portuguese branch was turned into the Knights of the Order of Christ, which later supported Portugal’s maritime discoveries of the 15th century. The convent and castle complex is a historic and cultural monument and was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1983. This former Knights Templar stronghold dates back to the 12th century. During the 15th and 16th centuries, the monastery benefited from several Manueline additions including cloisters and the stunning chapterhouse window.
7. Palace Hotel of Bussaco
Set on a hill within the ancient woodland of Buçaco is what would appear to be one of Portugal’s Manueline treasures. But despite appearances this incredible building is an imposter and was not built until the end of the 19th century. It is in fact mock or neo-Manueline and in case it reminds you of the Quinta Regaleira in Sintra, this is no coincidence. Both of these turn of the century pseudo-Manueline masterpieces were created, at least in part, by architect Luigi Manini.
The Buçaco Palace is a luxury hotel located in the mountain range of Serra do Buçaco, in the municipality of Mealhada, in central Portugal.
8. Igreja da Conceição Velha
Built around 1500 on the site of an ancient synagogue, and also known as Our Lady of the Conception, this was once the second-largest place of worship in Manueline Lisbon. Nowadays this historic church, with an ornate façade reminiscent in style and grandeur of the Jerónimos Monastery in Belém, seems to be sandwiched between two more pedestrian buildings down a largely overlooked street. But therein lies the story of this building.
Disaster struck the church in 1755 when the great earthquake destroyed much of the church. What is left is testament to the former grandeur of this church as it reflects what could be salvaged. Impressive as the Manueline Portal and windows may be, this was only the side entrance. It seems little of the interior was saved as this is almost entirely Baroque.
9. Sintra – Neo-Manueline trio
The town of Sintra is like something out of a fairytale with castles and palaces hidden amongst the thick forest which clings to the hillside. To some extent it is a work of fiction as not everything is as it appears. The Moorish Castle, for example, may be on a site dating back to the 8th century but everything you see today is in fact 19th century. The same is true for many of Sintra’s finest buildings which were built as part of the Romanticist movement which flourished here under King Ferdinand II.
Of all Sintra’s fine buildings it is possibly the Quinta Regaleira that is the purest in its Manueline character. Set in lavish gardens featuring grottoes, wells and fountains this small palace has taken inspiration from all the great Manueline buildings built four hundred years before. There are turrets, arcades and balconies along with arched doorways and windows, all extravagantly decorated in the Manueline style. But unlike the true Manueline masterpieces this was not built by order of royalty but by Brazilian coffee tycoon António Carvalho Monteiro (or “Moneybags Monteiro”) in the early 1900s.
10. Alcobaça Monastery
The Monastery of Santa Maria d’Alcobaça, north of Lisbon, was founded in the 12th century by King Alfonso I. Its size, the purity of its architectural style, the beauty of the materials and the care with which it was built make this a masterpiece of Cistercian Gothic art.
The vast Cistercian monastery of Santa Maria de Alcobaça is a UNESCO World Heritage site. This medieval monastery was the first to be built in the Gothic style in Portugal, so largely predates Manueline, but there are a number of later additions which are.
Many of these are just flourishes; for instance the surround of the doorway to the sacristy which was the work of Joao de Castilho. However, a more extensive example of Castilho’s Manueline work can be seen in the Cloister of Silence. Also known as the Dom Dinis cloister (after the reigning king) the lower portion dates back to the 14th century and is a particularly fine example of the Gothic style. The upper level of the cloister was added in the 1530s and is distinctly Manueline with its finely crafted stonework.
