PUBLIC SPACE AND MONUMENTAL ARCHITECTURE

The Belem Tower was initiated in 1515, thus being built the last fortress, a military defence mechanism strategically placed on Tagus, but it also served as a protection to the biggest monastery built, the Monastery and Church of Jeronimos. Paulo Pereira emphasises that this reason explains the morphology of the Tower and its ornamental opulence, which both accorded with current taste and was suited to its location on the bank of the river.