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This magnificent monastery can be considered the most prominent monument of Lisbon and certainly the most successful achievement of the Manueline style. In 1983 it was classified by the UNESCO, with nearby Torre de Belém, as a World Heritage Site.
The house for the Hieronymite monks was built on the same site of the Ermida do Restelo, a hermitage that was founded by Henry the Navigator at about 1450. It was at this hermitage, that was already in disrepair, that Vasco da Gama and his men spent the night in prayer before departing for India in 1497.


Kneeling statue of King Manuel I - main sponsor of the Monastery - on the Western portal. The figure behind the king is St Jerome.The existing structure was started on the orders of Manuel I (1515-1520) to commemorate Vasco da Gama's successful return from India. It was originally meant as a church for the burial of the House of Aviz, but it also became a house of prayer for seamen leaving or entering port.