Cathedral of Évora
Encyclopedia
The Cathedral of Évora is one of the oldest and most important monuments in the city of Évora
, in Portugal
, lying on the highest spot of the city. It is part of the historical city centre.
It has been declared a World Heritage Site
by UNESCO
in 1988
was definitively reconquered
from Arab
hands in 1166 by Geraldo Sem Pavor (Gerald the Fearless), and soon afterwards the new Christian rulers of the city began to build a cathedral
, dedicated to the Virgin Mary. This first building, built between 1184 and 1204, was very modest and was enlarged circa 1280-1340, this time in early Gothic
style. The cathedral received several valuable additions through time, like the Gothic cloisters (14th century), the Manueline
chapel of the Esporão (early 16th century) and a new, magnificent main chapel in baroque
style (first half of the 18th century). It is the largest of the mediaeval
cathedrals in Portugal
, and one of its best examples of Gothic architecture
.
It is common belief that flags of the fleet of Vasco da Gama
on his first expedition to the Orient, were blessed in the first presbytery
of the cathedral in 1497.
The most important historical figure associated with the cathedral was Cardinal-King Henrique (1512-1580), who was archbishop and cardinal of Évora. Cardinal Henrique, who was brother of King John III, had to succeed D. Sebastião as King of Portugal after his death in the Battle of Alcácer-Quibir. The Cardinal-King ruled only between 1578 and 1580.
In the 16th and 17th centuries, the Cathedral of Évora was the setting of the so called School of Évora of polyphony
, which played an important role on the music history of Portugal
. Composers related to the Cathedral include Mateus de Aranda and Manuel Mendes
and his pupils, Duarte Lobo
and Filipe de Magalhães
.
, resembles that of Lisbon Cathedral
. Its two massive towers, completed in the 16th century, flank a narthex
(entrance gallery), which encloses the main portal.
Over the narthex there is a huge window with Gothic
tracery
that illuminates the interior. Each tower has a different conical spire
, one of them covered with mediaeval coloured tile
s. Like other Portuguese churches of the time, the outer walls of Évora Cathedral are decorated with crenellations, as well as decorative arcaded corbel
s.
The lantern-tower over the crossing is very picturesque. It has a row of windows that bathe the transept
area with light. Its spire
, as well as spire of the tower above the crossing of the transept
, is surrounded by six turret
s, and each turret is a miniature copy of the tower itself. The design of the tower resembles that of the cathedral of Zamora and the Torre del Gallo of the Old cathedral of Salamanca
.
The ogival main portal is a masterpiece of Portuguese Gothic sculpture. The marble columns are occupied by huge statues of the Apostles executed in the 1330s, perhaps by sculptors Master Pero (Mestre Pero) and Telo Garcia. It is the best of its kind in Portugal. Such free-standing Gothic sculptures are rather rare in Portugal. They are usually associated with memorial graves.
of Lisbon Cathedral
, which had been built in the second half of the 12th century in Romanesque
style. Like that church, the builders of Évora Cathedral designed a Latin cross church with a transept
, a nave
higher than its two aisle
s, a triforium
(arched gallery over the central aisle) and an apse
with three chapels. The crossing
of the transept is topped by a dome
, supported by pendentives, and an octagonal lantern
. The transepts are lighted by two Gothic rose window
s, one with the morning star and the other with the mystical rose.
The large nave has a pointed barrel vault
. The interior space is accentuated by the use of white mortar
on the bare high walls, pillars and vaults.
In the entrance, in the first two bays, there is a Manueline high choir by architect Diogo de Arruda
(early 16th century), with fine Gothic vaulting. The high choir has Mannerist-style choir stalls carved on oak in 1562 by sculptors from Antwerp. They are decorated with mythological sculptural reliefs and scenes from courtly life, hunting parties and life at the farm. Near the entrance there is also an ancient organ, the oldest still in activity in Portugal, dated from circa 1544 and executed by Heitor Lobo. On the left side of the entrance stands the small baptistery with a fresco depicting the Baptism of Christ, 18th century azulejo
s and 16th century Manueline wrought-iron railings.
In the middle of the central nave there is a large Baroque altar with a polychrome Gothic statue of a pregnant Virgin Mary (Nossa Senhora do O) (15th century); facing the Virgin there is a polychrome Renaissance
statue of the Archangel Gabriel, attributed to Olivier of Ghent (16th century).
The main chapel was totally rebuilt between 1718 and 1746, a work sponsored by King John V. The architect in charge was João Frederico Ludovice
, a German
who was royal architect and who had previously designed the Monastery of Mafra
. The style favoured by the King and his architect was Roman baroque, with polychrome marble decoration (green marble from Italy
, white marble from Montes Claros, red and black marble from Sintra
) and painted altars. Although its style does not really fit into the mediaeval interior of the cathedral, the main chapel is nevertheless an elegant baroque masterpiece. The main altar has sculptural decoration by the Italian Antonio Bellini. Portuguese sculptor Manuel Dias is the author of the crucified Jesus over the altar, based on a drawing by Portuguese painter Vieira Lusitano. The painting of the main altar was executed by the Italian Agostino Masucci
.
The 13 panels of the original painted Flemish retable of the main chapel can be seen in the Évora Museum. The retable was commissioned around 1500 to a workshop in Bruges
by bishop Afonso de Portugal.
The chapel (Capela do Esporão) in the left transept was rebuilt in the 1520s in Manueline
style. It now has a beautiful Renaissance marble portal with a marble sculpture by Nicolau Chanterene
, Gothic vaulting and a Mannerist altar with the painting "Descent from the Cross" by Francisco Nunes (c.1620). The chapel in the right transept houses the tomb of the humanist Andre de Resende
(16th century). In these chapels are also buried João Mendes de Vasconcelos, Governor of Luanda
during the reign of Manuel I, and of Álvaro da Costa, ambassador and armorer of King Manuel.
. Despite the use of Late-Gothic tracery
, the use of granite in its construction gives it a heavy-looking overall impression.
Each corner of the cloister gallery has a marble Gothic statue of one of the Four Evangelists
. The Capela do Fundador, the funerary chapel of bishop D. Pedro, builder of the cloisters, features his tomb with recumbent figure, a statue of the Archangel Gabriel and a polychromed statue of Mary. The upper storey of the cloisters, reachable via a spiral staircase, offers a grand view of the cathedral and the surrounding landscape.
work in Manueline style.
The collection has other must-see treasures:
Some paintings in the collection are worthwhile, especially those by Gregório Lopes
, Cristóvão de Figueiredo
and Garcia Fernandes
.
Évora
Évora is a municipality in Portugal. It has total area of with a population of 55,619 inhabitants. It is the seat of the Évora District and capital of the Alentejo region. The municipality is composed of 19 civil parishes, and is located in Évora District....
, in Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
, lying on the highest spot of the city. It is part of the historical city centre.
It has been declared a World Heritage Site
World Heritage Site
A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...
by UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
in 1988
History
ÉvoraÉvora
Évora is a municipality in Portugal. It has total area of with a population of 55,619 inhabitants. It is the seat of the Évora District and capital of the Alentejo region. The municipality is composed of 19 civil parishes, and is located in Évora District....
was definitively reconquered
Reconquista
The Reconquista was a period of almost 800 years in the Middle Ages during which several Christian kingdoms succeeded in retaking the Muslim-controlled areas of the Iberian Peninsula broadly known as Al-Andalus...
from Arab
Arab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
hands in 1166 by Geraldo Sem Pavor (Gerald the Fearless), and soon afterwards the new Christian rulers of the city began to build a cathedral
Cathedral
A cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop...
, dedicated to the Virgin Mary. This first building, built between 1184 and 1204, was very modest and was enlarged circa 1280-1340, this time in early Gothic
Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....
style. The cathedral received several valuable additions through time, like the Gothic cloisters (14th century), the Manueline
Manueline
The Manueline, or Portuguese late Gothic, is the sumptuous, composite Portuguese style of architectural ornamentation of the first decades of the 16th century, incorporating maritime elements and representations of the discoveries brought from the voyages of Vasco da Gama and Pedro Álvares Cabral...
chapel of the Esporão (early 16th century) and a new, magnificent main chapel in baroque
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
style (first half of the 18th century). It is the largest of the mediaeval
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
cathedrals in Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
, and one of its best examples of Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....
.
It is common belief that flags of the fleet of Vasco da Gama
Vasco da Gama
Vasco da Gama, 1st Count of Vidigueira was a Portuguese explorer, one of the most successful in the Age of Discovery and the commander of the first ships to sail directly from Europe to India...
on his first expedition to the Orient, were blessed in the first presbytery
Presbytery (architecture)
The presbytery is the name for an area in a church building which is reserved for the clergy.In the oldest church it is separated by short walls, by small columns and pilasters in the Renaissance ones; it can also be raised, being reachable by a few steps, usually with railings....
of the cathedral in 1497.
The most important historical figure associated with the cathedral was Cardinal-King Henrique (1512-1580), who was archbishop and cardinal of Évora. Cardinal Henrique, who was brother of King John III, had to succeed D. Sebastião as King of Portugal after his death in the Battle of Alcácer-Quibir. The Cardinal-King ruled only between 1578 and 1580.
In the 16th and 17th centuries, the Cathedral of Évora was the setting of the so called School of Évora of polyphony
Polyphony
In music, polyphony is a texture consisting of two or more independent melodic voices, as opposed to music with just one voice or music with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords ....
, which played an important role on the music history of Portugal
Music history of Portugal
-Liturgical repertoire:In the early days of the Catholic Church, several local liturgies developed, such as the Gallican in France, the Sarum in England, the antique Roman in Rome, the Ambrosian rite in Milan...
. Composers related to the Cathedral include Mateus de Aranda and Manuel Mendes
Manuel Mendes
Manuel Mendes was a Portuguese composer and teacher of the Renaissance. While his music remains obscure, he was important as the teacher of several of the composers of the golden age of Portuguese polyphony, including Duarte Lobo and Manuel Cardoso.He was born in Lisbon, and studied music with...
and his pupils, Duarte Lobo
Duarte Lobo
Duarte Lobo was a Portuguese composer of the late Renaissance and early Baroque. He was one of the most famous Portuguese composers of the time, together with Filipe de Magalhães, Manuel Cardoso, composers who all began their academic studies as students of Manuel Mendes...
and Filipe de Magalhães
Filipe de Magalhães
Filipe de Magalhães was a Portuguese composer of sacred polyphony.-Life:Filipe de Magalhães was born in Azeitão, Portugal, in 1571. He studied music at the Cathedral of Évora with Manuel Mendes where he was a colleague of the equally renowned polyphonists Duarte Lobo and Manuel Cardoso...
.
Art and architecture
Exterior
The main façade of Évora Cathedral, built with rose graniteGranite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
, resembles that of Lisbon Cathedral
Lisbon Cathedral
The Patriarchal Cathedral of St. Mary Major is a Roman Catholic parish church located in Lisbon, Portugal. The oldest church in the city is the see of the Archdiocese of Lisbon. Since the beginning of the construction of the cathedral, in the year 1147, the building has been modified several...
. Its two massive towers, completed in the 16th century, flank a narthex
Narthex
The narthex of a church is the entrance or lobby area, located at the end of the nave, at the far end from the church's main altar. Traditionally the narthex was a part of the church building, but was not considered part of the church proper...
(entrance gallery), which encloses the main portal.
Over the narthex there is a huge window with Gothic
Gothic art
Gothic art was a Medieval art movement that developed in France out of Romanesque art in the mid-12th century, led by the concurrent development of Gothic architecture. It spread to all of Western Europe, but took over art more completely north of the Alps, never quite effacing more classical...
tracery
Tracery
In architecture, Tracery is the stonework elements that support the glass in a Gothic window. The term probably derives from the 'tracing floors' on which the complex patterns of late Gothic windows were laid out.-Plate tracery:...
that illuminates the interior. Each tower has a different conical spire
Spire
A spire is a tapering conical or pyramidal structure on the top of a building, particularly a church tower. Etymologically, the word is derived from the Old English word spir, meaning a sprout, shoot, or stalk of grass....
, one of them covered with mediaeval coloured tile
Tile
A tile is a manufactured piece of hard-wearing material such as ceramic, stone, metal, or even glass. Tiles are generally used for covering roofs, floors, walls, showers, or other objects such as tabletops...
s. Like other Portuguese churches of the time, the outer walls of Évora Cathedral are decorated with crenellations, as well as decorative arcaded corbel
Corbel
In architecture a corbel is a piece of stone jutting out of a wall to carry any superincumbent weight. A piece of timber projecting in the same way was called a "tassel" or a "bragger". The technique of corbelling, where rows of corbels deeply keyed inside a wall support a projecting wall or...
s.
The lantern-tower over the crossing is very picturesque. It has a row of windows that bathe the transept
Transept
For the periodical go to The Transept.A transept is a transverse section, of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In Christian churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform building in Romanesque and Gothic Christian church architecture...
area with light. Its spire
Spire
A spire is a tapering conical or pyramidal structure on the top of a building, particularly a church tower. Etymologically, the word is derived from the Old English word spir, meaning a sprout, shoot, or stalk of grass....
, as well as spire of the tower above the crossing of the transept
Transept
For the periodical go to The Transept.A transept is a transverse section, of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In Christian churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform building in Romanesque and Gothic Christian church architecture...
, is surrounded by six turret
Turret
In architecture, a turret is a small tower that projects vertically from the wall of a building such as a medieval castle. Turrets were used to provide a projecting defensive position allowing covering fire to the adjacent wall in the days of military fortification...
s, and each turret is a miniature copy of the tower itself. The design of the tower resembles that of the cathedral of Zamora and the Torre del Gallo of the Old cathedral of Salamanca
Salamanca
Salamanca is a city in western Spain, in the community of Castile and León. Because it is known for its beautiful buildings and urban environment, the Old City was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988. It is the most important university city in Spain and is known for its contributions to...
.
The ogival main portal is a masterpiece of Portuguese Gothic sculpture. The marble columns are occupied by huge statues of the Apostles executed in the 1330s, perhaps by sculptors Master Pero (Mestre Pero) and Telo Garcia. It is the best of its kind in Portugal. Such free-standing Gothic sculptures are rather rare in Portugal. They are usually associated with memorial graves.
Interior
The Cathedral of Évora, built mainly between 1280 and 1340, was designed following closely the floor planFloor plan
In architecture and building engineering, a floor plan, or floorplan, is a diagram, usually to scale, showing a view from above of the relationships between rooms, spaces and other physical features at one level of a structure....
of Lisbon Cathedral
Lisbon Cathedral
The Patriarchal Cathedral of St. Mary Major is a Roman Catholic parish church located in Lisbon, Portugal. The oldest church in the city is the see of the Archdiocese of Lisbon. Since the beginning of the construction of the cathedral, in the year 1147, the building has been modified several...
, which had been built in the second half of the 12th century in Romanesque
Romanesque architecture
Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of Medieval Europe characterised by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque architecture, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 10th century. It developed in the 12th century into the Gothic style,...
style. Like that church, the builders of Évora Cathedral designed a Latin cross church with a transept
Transept
For the periodical go to The Transept.A transept is a transverse section, of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In Christian churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform building in Romanesque and Gothic Christian church architecture...
, a nave
Nave
In Romanesque and Gothic Christian abbey, cathedral basilica and church architecture, the nave is the central approach to the high altar, the main body of the church. "Nave" was probably suggested by the keel shape of its vaulting...
higher than its two aisle
Aisle
An aisle is, in general, a space for walking with rows of seats on both sides or with rows of seats on one side and a wall on the other...
s, a triforium
Triforium
A triforium is a shallow arched gallery within the thickness of inner wall, which stands above the nave of a church or cathedral. It may occur at the level of the clerestory windows, or it may be located as a separate level below the clerestory. It may itself have an outer wall of glass rather than...
(arched gallery over the central aisle) and an apse
Apse
In architecture, the apse is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome...
with three chapels. The crossing
Crossing (architecture)
A crossing, in ecclesiastical architecture, is the junction of the four arms of a cruciform church.In a typically oriented church , the crossing gives access to the nave on the west, the transept arms on the north and south, and the choir on the east.The crossing is sometimes surmounted by a tower...
of the transept is topped by a dome
Dome
A dome is a structural element of architecture that resembles the hollow upper half of a sphere. Dome structures made of various materials have a long architectural lineage extending into prehistory....
, supported by pendentives, and an octagonal lantern
Lantern
A lantern is a portable lighting device or mounted light fixture used to illuminate broad areas. Lanterns may also be used for signaling, as 'torches', or as general light sources outdoors . Low light level varieties are used for decoration. The term "lantern" is also used more generically to...
. The transepts are lighted by two Gothic rose window
Rose window
A Rose window is often used as a generic term applied to a circular window, but is especially used for those found in churches of the Gothic architectural style and being divided into segments by stone mullions and tracery...
s, one with the morning star and the other with the mystical rose.
The large nave has a pointed barrel vault
Barrel vault
A barrel vault, also known as a tunnel vault or a wagon vault, is an architectural element formed by the extrusion of a single curve along a given distance. The curves are typically circular in shape, lending a semi-cylindrical appearance to the total design...
. The interior space is accentuated by the use of white mortar
Mortar (masonry)
Mortar is a workable paste used to bind construction blocks together and fill the gaps between them. The blocks may be stone, brick, cinder blocks, etc. Mortar becomes hard when it sets, resulting in a rigid aggregate structure. Modern mortars are typically made from a mixture of sand, a binder...
on the bare high walls, pillars and vaults.
In the entrance, in the first two bays, there is a Manueline high choir by architect Diogo de Arruda
Diogo de Arruda
Diogo de Arruda was a noted Portuguese architect active during the early years of the 16th century.Diogo de Arruda was the master builder of the Convento de Cristo in Tomar, Portugal between 1510 and 1513....
(early 16th century), with fine Gothic vaulting. The high choir has Mannerist-style choir stalls carved on oak in 1562 by sculptors from Antwerp. They are decorated with mythological sculptural reliefs and scenes from courtly life, hunting parties and life at the farm. Near the entrance there is also an ancient organ, the oldest still in activity in Portugal, dated from circa 1544 and executed by Heitor Lobo. On the left side of the entrance stands the small baptistery with a fresco depicting the Baptism of Christ, 18th century azulejo
Azulejo
Azulejo from the Arabic word Zellige زليج is a form of Portuguese or Spanish painted, tin-glazed, ceramic tilework. They have become a typical aspect of Portuguese culture, having been produced without interruption for five centuries...
s and 16th century Manueline wrought-iron railings.
In the middle of the central nave there is a large Baroque altar with a polychrome Gothic statue of a pregnant Virgin Mary (Nossa Senhora do O) (15th century); facing the Virgin there is a polychrome Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
statue of the Archangel Gabriel, attributed to Olivier of Ghent (16th century).
The main chapel was totally rebuilt between 1718 and 1746, a work sponsored by King John V. The architect in charge was João Frederico Ludovice
Ludovice
Johann Friedrich Ludwig , known in Portugal as João Frederico Ludovice, was a German born architect and goldsmith.Ludovice was born in Hohenhart. In 1698 he went to Italy, where he married and converted to Catholicism, changing his name to Ludovici...
, a German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
who was royal architect and who had previously designed the Monastery of Mafra
Mafra National Palace
The Mafra National Palace is a monumental Baroque and Italianized Neoclassical palace-monastery located in Mafra, Portugal, some 28 kilometres from Lisbon. Its dimensions are so huge that it dwarfs the city...
. The style favoured by the King and his architect was Roman baroque, with polychrome marble decoration (green marble from Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, white marble from Montes Claros, red and black marble from Sintra
Sintra
Sintra is a town within the municipality of Sintra in the Grande Lisboa subregion of Portugal. Owing to its 19th century Romantic architecture and landscapes, becoming a major tourist centre, visited by many day-trippers who travel from the urbanized suburbs and capital of Lisbon.In addition to...
) and painted altars. Although its style does not really fit into the mediaeval interior of the cathedral, the main chapel is nevertheless an elegant baroque masterpiece. The main altar has sculptural decoration by the Italian Antonio Bellini. Portuguese sculptor Manuel Dias is the author of the crucified Jesus over the altar, based on a drawing by Portuguese painter Vieira Lusitano. The painting of the main altar was executed by the Italian Agostino Masucci
Agostino Masucci
Agostino Masucci was an Italian painter of the late-Baroque or Rococo period.Born in Rome, he initially apprenticed with Andrea Procaccino, and then became a member of the studio of Carlo Maratta. He joined the Accademia di San Luca in 1724, and from 1736 to 1738, he was director or Principe...
.
The 13 panels of the original painted Flemish retable of the main chapel can be seen in the Évora Museum. The retable was commissioned around 1500 to a workshop in Bruges
Bruges
Bruges is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located in the northwest of the country....
by bishop Afonso de Portugal.
The chapel (Capela do Esporão) in the left transept was rebuilt in the 1520s in Manueline
Manueline
The Manueline, or Portuguese late Gothic, is the sumptuous, composite Portuguese style of architectural ornamentation of the first decades of the 16th century, incorporating maritime elements and representations of the discoveries brought from the voyages of Vasco da Gama and Pedro Álvares Cabral...
style. It now has a beautiful Renaissance marble portal with a marble sculpture by Nicolau Chanterene
Nicolau Chanterene
Nicolau Chanterene was a French sculptor and architect who worked mainly in Portugal and Spain....
, Gothic vaulting and a Mannerist altar with the painting "Descent from the Cross" by Francisco Nunes (c.1620). The chapel in the right transept houses the tomb of the humanist Andre de Resende
Andre de Resende
André de Resende , the father of archaeology in Portugal, a Dominican friar.He spent many years traveling in Spain, France and Belgium, where he corresponded with Erasmus and other learned men. He was also intimate with King John III and his sons, and acted as tutor to the Infante D...
(16th century). In these chapels are also buried João Mendes de Vasconcelos, Governor of Luanda
Luanda
Luanda, formerly named São Paulo da Assunção de Loanda, is the capital and largest city of Angola. Located on Angola's coast with the Atlantic Ocean, Luanda is both Angola's chief seaport and its administrative center. It has a population of at least 5 million...
during the reign of Manuel I, and of Álvaro da Costa, ambassador and armorer of King Manuel.
Cloisters
The cloisters of the cathedral were built between 1317 and 1340 in Gothic style, and again shows the influence of the cloisters of Lisbon CathedralLisbon Cathedral
The Patriarchal Cathedral of St. Mary Major is a Roman Catholic parish church located in Lisbon, Portugal. The oldest church in the city is the see of the Archdiocese of Lisbon. Since the beginning of the construction of the cathedral, in the year 1147, the building has been modified several...
. Despite the use of Late-Gothic tracery
Tracery
In architecture, Tracery is the stonework elements that support the glass in a Gothic window. The term probably derives from the 'tracing floors' on which the complex patterns of late Gothic windows were laid out.-Plate tracery:...
, the use of granite in its construction gives it a heavy-looking overall impression.
Each corner of the cloister gallery has a marble Gothic statue of one of the Four Evangelists
Four Evangelists
In Christian tradition the Four Evangelists are Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, the authors attributed with the creation of the four Gospel accounts in the New Testament that bear the following titles:*Gospel according to Matthew*Gospel according to Mark...
. The Capela do Fundador, the funerary chapel of bishop D. Pedro, builder of the cloisters, features his tomb with recumbent figure, a statue of the Archangel Gabriel and a polychromed statue of Mary. The upper storey of the cloisters, reachable via a spiral staircase, offers a grand view of the cathedral and the surrounding landscape.
Cathedral Museum
The Cathedral Museum has many interesting pieces, in particular the sceptre of Cardinal-King Henrique, a magnificent 16th century goldsmithGoldsmith
A goldsmith is a metalworker who specializes in working with gold and other precious metals. Since ancient times the techniques of a goldsmith have evolved very little in order to produce items of jewelry of quality standards. In modern times actual goldsmiths are rare...
work in Manueline style.
The collection has other must-see treasures:
- a most precious, puzzle-like, 12-inch-high Gothic ivory statue of Mary, whose midriff opens up into a triptych with nine scenes of her life. It's a French work of art from the 13th century. The head of the statue is a replica from the 16th century.
- the 17th-century reliquary of Santo Lenho (holy wood), supposedly containing pieces of Christ's Cross, of gilded silver and polychromed enamel, encrusted with 1426 true gems (840 diamonds, 402 rubies, 180 emeralds, two sapphires, one hyacinth and one cameo).
- a numerous collection of canonicals from the 17th and the 18th centuries.
Some paintings in the collection are worthwhile, especially those by Gregório Lopes
Gregório Lopes
Gregório Lopes was one of the most important Renaissance painters from Portugal.Gregório Lopes was educated in the workshop of Jorge Afonso, the court painter of King Manuel I. Later he himself became court painter for both Manuel I and for his successor, John III...
, Cristóvão de Figueiredo
Cristóvão de Figueiredo
Cristovão de Figueiredo was a Portuguese Renaissance painter.Like many other important painters of the time, Cristovão de Figueiredo was a pupil of Master Jorge Afonso, in Lisbon, in the early 16th century...
and Garcia Fernandes
Garcia Fernandes
Garcia Fernandes was a Portuguese Renaissance painter. Like many of painters of the time, Garcia Fernandes was a pupil in the Lisbon workshop of Jorge Afonso, who was the court painter of King Manuel I....
.