Photos

Hi TE friends

This is a picture of Belem area in Lisbon. There are many monuments to visit (Monument to the discoveries, Belem Tower, Museum of electricity, Belém Cultural Centre, Belém Palace). It is also a fine place to enjoy and take a walk.

You can see the Jerónimos (Hieronymites) Monastery. In right side of Monument, there is the famous Factory of Pastel de Belém

In the WS, you can see the Factory and the Pastel of Belem

The Jerónimos (Hieronymites) Monastery view from the Monument to the discoveries.
The magnificient Jerónimos (Hieronymites) Monastery is considered to be the most prominent monument of Lisbon and certainly the most successful achievement of the Manueline architecture style. The Manueline style, or Portuguese late Gothic, is a sumptuous Portuguese style of architectural ornamentation incorporating maritime elements and representations of the Discoveries, characteristically dated from the first decades of the 16th century.
The construction of Jerónimos Monastery was ordered by the Portuguese king Manuel the 1st, in the site of a modest chapel where departing and arriving seafarers came to pray. King Manuel transformed it into this remarkable monument, a prayer to the Virgin of Belém for the success of Vasco da Gama’s voyage to India. The construction works started in 1502 with several famous architects and engineers (e.g Diogo Boitaca, Nicolau Chanterene and João de Castilho) and took around 50 years to complete, built mainly with used pedra lioz, a local gold-coloured limestone.
In 1983 the Monastery was classified by the UNESCO, with nearby Torre de Belém, as a World Heritage Site and is doubtless one of the most delighted places in Lisboa.

Pastel de Nata or Pastel de Belém is a small custard tart found throughout Portugal's pastry shops or cafés. These tarts came about during the height of the Port industry. The recipe for Port requires the use of egg white, thus many egg yolks were left over. It is believed that a group of Nuns in the area of Oporto invented this recipe which used up great quantities of egg-yolk at a time, in making the custard which fills the pastry cases. The recipe has, over generations, received some alteration by various "Pastelarias" (Cake Shops) and "Padarias" (Bakeries) throughout Portugal. One of these methods includes making the custard in a "bain-Marie" (a bowl over boiling water) rather than combining all the ingredientas at once in a saucepan, although some prefer the cream slightly "curdled" to give it a rustic appearance and an unusual texture. Pasteis de Nata are also sold in great quantities in any "Mercado Muncipal" (Public Maket), where it is more likely to be referred to as "Bolo Regional" (regional cake).The Casa Pastéis de Belém in Lisbon was the first place outside the convent selling this creamy dessert, and there they are called Pastéis de Belém, after the name of the area and its famous bakery. Since 1837, locals have gone there to get them warm out of the oven and sprinkled with the cinnamon and powdered sugar. These are very popular, with tourists waiting in excess of 3 hours for them.




Nikon D40X
2008/08/23 14:23:57.1
Compressed RAW (12-bit)
Color
Lens: 18-55mm F/3.5-5.6 G
Focal Length: 28mm
Exposure Mode: Manual
Metering Mode: Multi-Pattern
1/400 sec - F/6.3
Exposure Comp.: +5.0 EV
Sensitivity: ISO 100
Optimize Image: Vivid
White Balance: Auto
AF Mode: AF-S
Color Mode: Mode IIIa (sRGB)
Tone Comp.: Normal
Hue Adjustment: 0°
Saturation: Enhanced
Sharpening: Medium high