Portal:Architecture of Portugal
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Introduction
Architecture of Portugal refers to the architecture practiced in the territory of present-day Portugal since before the foundation of the country in the 12th century. The term may also refer to buildings created under Portuguese influence or by Portuguese architects in other parts of the world, particularly in the Portuguese Empire.
Portuguese architecture, like all aspects of Portuguese culture, is marked by the history of the country and the several people that have settled and influenced the current Portuguese territory. These include Romans, Suebians among other related Germanic peoples, Visigoths and Arabs, as well as the influence from the main European artistic centres from which were introduced to the broad architectural styles: Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque and Neoclassicism. Among the main local manifestations of Portuguese architecture are the Manueline, the exuberant Portuguese version of late Gothic; and the Pombaline style, a mix of late Baroque and Neoclassicism that developed after the Great Lisbon earthquake of 1755.
Selected general articles
The Direção-Geral do Património Cultural (DGPC) (Directorate-General for Cultural Heritage), formerly the Instituto de Gestão do Património Arquitectónico e Arqueológico (IGESPAR) (Institute for the Management of Architectural and Archaeological Heritage) and Instituto Português do Património Arquitectónico (IPPAR (Portuguese Institute for Architectural Heritage), is a general directorate of the Government of Portugal tasked with the conservation, preservation, and inventory of Portuguese architectural heritage. This includes buildings and sites of historical, architectural, scientific or artistic value. The institute keeps a registry of all the classified sites and issues legally binding opinions regarding any works on them. Read more...
The architecture of the Portuguese Renaissance intimately linked to Gothic architecture and gradual in its classical elements. The Manueline style (circa 1490-1535) was a transitional style that combined Renaissance and Gothic ornamental elements to buildings that were architectonically closer to Gothic architecture, as is the Isabelline style of Spain. Manueline was succeeded by a brief Early Renaissance phase (c. 1530-1550), closer to Classical canons, followed by the adoption of Mannerist (late Renaissance) forms. Portuguese Mannerism, specially in secular architecture, is characterised by simplicity in the organisation of façades and relative lack of decoration, being often referred to as Estilo Chão (plain style). Even with the arrival of Baroque architecture in the late 17th century, Portuguese architecture continued to use Mannerist forms well into the 18th century. Read more...- Housing in Portugal is generally similar to housing in the rest of Europe. However, some specificities exist. Portugal has the highest rate of rural population in Western Europe, which means that roughly a third of the Portuguese families live in farms or properties outside urban areas. Another characteristic is that most of the urban population is actually suburban. The metropolitan areas of Lisbon and Porto each have over 2 million inhabitants. In these areas, families live in apartment blocs, each apartment usually having two bedrooms, a living room, a kitchen and one or two bathrooms.
Most properties have been built since the 1970s, and especially since the turn of the millennium. This caused historical areas of Lisbon, Porto and other cities to become depopulated, though the younger generations now have a growing interest on buying and repairing these old buildings. The trendy district of Bairro Alto, in Lisbon, is an example of this. Read more...
Neo-Manueline was a revival architecture and decorative arts style developed in Portugal between the middle of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. The style adopted the characteristics of the Manueline (or Portuguese Late Gothic) of the 16th century. Read more...
The Hospital of Santa Maria, Lisbon
Health in Portugal is characterized by the existence of a high quality healthcare system (ranked as the 9th best in Europe and 12th in the World), allowing the country to achieve good rankings in several health indices. Read more...- This is a partial list of association football stadiums in Portugal, ranked in order of capacity. Read more...
- This is a list of buildings and nonbuilding structures in Portugal with a confirmed minimum height of 100 m (328 ft).
The table is sortable by any column. Read more... - Gilded woodcarving in the monastery of Tibães, an example of Portuguese rococo, by the architect André Soares, 1757-1760, Braga
Gilded woodcarving in Portugal is, along with tile, one of the country's most original and rich artistic expressions. It is usually used in the interior decoration of churches and cathedrals and of noble halls in palaces and large public buildings. An impressive collection of altarpieces are found in Portuguese churches. Originating in the Gothic era, Portuguese gilded woodcarving assumed a nationalist character during the 17th century and reached its height in the reign of King D. João V. In the 19th century it lost its originality and began to disappear with the end of the revival era. Read more... - Portuguese Gothic architecture is the architectural style prevalent in Portugal in the Late Middle Ages. As in other parts of Europe, Gothic style slowly replaced Romanesque architecture in the period between the late 12th and the 13th century. Between the late 15th and early 16th century, Gothic was replaced by Renaissance architecture through an intermediate style called Manueline. Read more...
Central aisle of the church of Alcobaça Monastery (12th–13th century). - The Portuguese Renaissance refers to the cultural and artistic movement in Portugal during the 15th and 16th centuries. Though the movement coincided with the Spanish and Italian Renaissances, the Portuguese Renaissance was largely separate from other European Renaissances and instead was incredibly important in opening Europe to the unknown and bringing a more worldly view to those European Renaissances, as at the time the Portuguese Empire spanned the globe.
As the pioneer of the Age of Discoveries, Portugal flourished in the 15th, 16th, and 17th centuries, with voyages to India, the Orient, the Americas, and Africa. This immense trade network would create an incredibly wealthy Portuguese nobility and monarchy, that would become patrons for an incredible flourishing of culture, arts, and technology in Portugal and all over the world. Read more...
Areeiro Square building in Lisbon
The Soft Portuguese style (Portuguese: Estilo Português Suave) is an architectural model used in public and private buildings in Portugal, essentially during the 1940s and the early 1950s. This architectural style is also known as Nationalistic style, Traditionalistic style and New State style, but this last denomination is not very correct, since during the Portuguese New State Regimen diverse architectural styles have been applied in public buildings. Read more...- This is a list of airports in Portugal (including Azores and Madeira), sorted by location. Read more...
- The national monuments of Portugal (Portuguese: Monumentos Nacionais) were constructed throughout the Portuguese territory, and date back to the period of pre-historic settlement of occupation. Subsequently, the region that is today Portugal has been colonized by many civilizations, which have left marks in the territory, constructing markers, defensive structures, homes and places of worship to suit their requirements and means. The formal organization of the Portuguese state resulted in a process to qualify and quantify those structures that have had an intrinsic value to the Portuguese culture. Starting with the Direcção Geral dos Edifícios e Monumentos Nacionais (DGMEN), and later by the Instituto de Gestão do Património Arquitectónico e Arqueológico (IGESPAR), the Portuguese government developed a registry of national monuments that includes a rich heritage of historical monuments throughout the country. This is a compilation of those structures that are designated as National Monuments only. Read more...
The Tower of Belém, in Lisbon, is one of the most representative examples of Manueline style.
The Manueline (Portuguese: estilo manuelino, IPA: [ɨʃˈtilu mɐnweˈɫinu]), 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. This innovative style synthesizes aspects of Late Gothic architecture with influences of the Spanish Plateresque style, Mudéjar, Italian urban architecture, and Flemish elements. It marks the transition from Late Gothic to Renaissance. The construction of churches and monasteries in Manueline was largely financed by proceeds of the lucrative spice trade with Africa and India.
The style was given its name, many years later, by Francisco Adolfo de Varnhagen, Viscount of Porto Seguro, in his 1842 book, Noticia historica e descriptiva do Mosteiro de Belem, com um glossario de varios termos respectivos principalmente a architectura gothica, in his description of the Jerónimos Monastery. Varnhagen named the style after King Manuel I, whose reign (1495–1521) coincided with its development. The style was much influenced by the astonishing successes of the voyages of discovery of Portuguese navigators, from the coastal areas of Africa to the discovery of Brazil and the ocean routes to the Far East, drawing heavily on the style and decorations of East Indian temples. Read more...
A map of the Portuguese Empire and its claims, strongholds, trade waters, and economic interests.
Portuguese colonial architecture refers to the various styles of architecture that the Portuguese built across the Portuguese Empire. Portuguese colonial Architecture can be found in the plethora of former colonies throughout South America, North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, India, Oceania, and East Asia. Many former colonies, especially Brazil, Macau, and India, promote their Portuguese colonial architecture as major tourist attractions. Read more...
Baroque architecture in Portugal lasted about two centuries (the late seventeenth century and eighteenth century). The reigns of D. João V and D. Joseph I of Portugal had increased imports of gold and diamonds, in a period called Royal Absolutism, which allowed the Portuguese Baroque to flourish. Read more...- This page is a list of dams and reservoirs in Portugal, arranged by NUTS Regions and Subregions: Read more...
- This page is a list of castles and fortified keeps in Portugal, arranged by region (NUTSII Regions and NUTSIII Subregions): Read more...
The Old Cathedral of Coimbra with its fortress like appearance and battlemented. The two central openings are deeply recessed.
The Romanesque style of architecture was introduced in Portugal between the end of the 11th and the beginning of the 12th century. In general, Portuguese cathedrals have a heavy, fortress-like appearance, with crenellations and few decorative elements apart from portals and windows. Portuguese Romanesque cathedrals were later extensively modified, among others the Old Cathedral of Coimbra, although it only had some minor changes.
Chronological and geographical distribution of Romanesque buildings in Portugal are intimately connected with the territorial organization emerging from the Reconquista, being the fundamental reason for the differences between a locally influenced artistical phenomenon in the North of the country and a more "international" kind in buildings like Coimbra and Lisbon Cathedrals. Romanesque architecture first developed in Minho and Douro regions (with Braga Cathedral being its reference) spreading later southwards to Coimbra. It is in the rural areas of the northwest and center regions that Romanesque buildings are more concentrated, being more dense in the margins of rivers Douro and Mondego. Read more...
Rococo architecture entered Portugal through the north, while Lisbon, due to the court pomp, remained in the Baroque. It’s an architecture that follows the international taste in decoration, and, as a result of the contrast between dark granite and white walls, has a clearly Portuguese profile. The decoration is naturalist, based mainly in shells and leaves but also with architectural elements and sculpture. Pilgrimage places became fashionable, often built in places of rough prominence, allowing impressive staircases of big scenographic effect. André Soares worked in the region of Braga, and produced some of the main examples such as Falperra Sanctuary, Congregados Church, the Braga City Hall and Casa do Raio, among many others. The number of buildings and architects is large and, because the north of Portugal was spared from the ravages of the 1755 Lisbon earthquake, there is a large number of buildings.
In the south, as a result of the lower population density, the court taste and also of the consequence of the earthquake there are fewer rococo buildings. But there still remain many examples such as the Queluz Palace. Designed by Mateus Vincent de Oliveira, it became the residence of the royal family under the reign of Queen Maria I. Made according to the French taste for prince Dom Pedro, King José’s brother, it is characterized by good taste and elegance. It boasts rococo gardens and water games in a large park. The interior is decorated with paintings, sculptures, mirrors, tile, and gilded woodcarving. The chapel, as a result of the junction of carved wood, marble and coloured stones, reflects a classical taste unusual in the Portuguese Rococo. The building received subsequent extensions during the neoclassical period. Read more...
The Pombaline style was a Portuguese architectural style of the 18th century, named after Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo, the first Marquês de Pombal, who was instrumental in reconstructing Lisbon after the earthquake of 1755. Pombal supervised the plans drawn up by the military engineers Manuel da Maia, Eugénio dos Santos and Elias Sebastian Pope (later succeeded by Carlos Mardel). The new city (mostly the Baixa area now called Baixa Pombalina) was laid out on a grid plan with roads and pavements fixed at 40 ft wide (12 m). The previously standing royal palace was replaced with the Praça do Comércio which along with square Rossio defines the limits of the new city. Maia and Santos also outlined the form of the facades that were to line the streets, conceived on a hierarchical scheme whereby detail and size were delineated by the importance of the street. These were in a notably restrained neoclassical style partly the result of limited funds and the urgency of building but also thanks to the enlightenment concept of architectural rationality adhered to by Pombal. A standardized system of decoration was applied both inside and out with a distinctively reduced application of azulejo tiling. Read more...
Portuguese pavement (calçada portuguesa, European Portuguese: [kɐɫˈsaðɐ puɾtuˈɣezɐ], Brazilian Portuguese: [kawˈsadɐ poʁtuˈɡezɐ]) is a traditional-style pavement used for many pedestrian areas in Portugal. It consists of small flat pieces of stones arranged in a pattern or image, like a mosaic. It can also be found in Olivença (a disputed territory administered by Spain) and throughout old Portuguese colonies, such as Brazil and Macau. Portuguese workers are also hired for their skill in creating these pavements in places such as Gibraltar. Being usually used in sidewalks, it is in squares and atriums that this art finds its deepest expression.
One of the most distinctive uses of this paving technique is the image of Saint Elizabeth of Portugal, (Santa Rainha Isabel) in Coimbra, designed with black and white stones of basalt and limestone. Read more...- The following is a list of architects from the country of Portugal.
- Nadir Afonso (1920–2013)
- Carlos Amarante (1748–1815)
- João Antunes (1642–1712)
- Diogo de Arruda (before 1490–1531)
- Diogo de Boitaca (c. 1460–1528?)
- Cassiano Branco (1897–1970)
- Gonçalo Byrne (b. 1941)
- João Luís Carrilho da Graça (b. 1952)
- Jorge Ferreira Chaves (1920–1981)
- Pancho Guedes (1925–2015)
- Francisco Keil do Amaral (1910–1975)
- Raul Lino (1879–1974)
- José Marques da Silva (1869–1947)
- Maria José Marques da Silva (1914–1996)
- Filipe Oliveira Dias (1963–2014)
- Jacobetty Rosa (1901–1970)
- João Santa-Rita (b. 1960)
- Álvaro Siza (b. 1933), Pritzker Prize winner
- Eduardo Souto de Moura (b.1952), Pritzker Prize winner
- Tomás Taveira (b. 1938)
- Fernando Távora (1923–2005)
- Pedro Nunes Tinoco (d. 1641)
Chapel of the Alcázar of Seville (Spain) covered with tin-glazed tiles painted in 1504 by the native-to-Pisa Francisco Niculoso
Azulejo (Portuguese: [ɐzuˈleʒu] or Portuguese: [ɐzuˈlɐjʒu], Spanish: [aθuˈlexo] or Spanish: [asuˈlexo], from the Arabic al zellige زليج) is a form of Spanish and Portuguese painted tin-glazed ceramic tilework. Azulejos are found on the interior and exterior of churches, palaces, ordinary houses, schools, and nowadays, restaurants, bars and even railways or subway stations. They were not only used as an ornamental art form, but also had a specific functional capacity like temperature control in homes.
There is also a tradition of their production in former Spanish and Portuguese colonies in North America, South America, Goa, Africa (Angola and Mozambique), and the Philippines. Read more...
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Selected images
A side portal in the church of the Benedictine Monastery of Rates with zoomorphic and anthropomorphic decoration (built in 13th century).
View of the Monastery of Tibães with the church façade, near Braga
Central aisle of the church of Alcobaça Monastery (12th-13th century).
Portuguese modern architecture: buildings at Parque das Nações, Lisbon
Main gate (Porta de Loulé) of the old Moorish city centre (Almedina) of Silves.
Saint Frutuoso Chapel near Braga, a Greek cross building of Byzantine influence (7th century).
Iron age house in Citânia de Briteiros
Intricately worked façade of the Palácio do Raio in Braga
Almourol Castle, built c. 1171 on an island of the Tagus by the Templar Knights. The highest tower is the square-shaped keep of the castle.
Façade of the Old Cathedral of Coimbra (begun 1162).
Manueline nave of Jerónimos Monastery in Lisbon.
Praça do Comércio with the arch leading to Augusta street, in Lisbon
Roman bridge of Aquae Flaviae, today's Chaves.
Castle of Guimarães, a tenth century castle in Guimarães known as the 'Cradle of Portugal'.
Flamboyant Gothic in the Monastery of Batalha: church façade (left) and Founder's Chapel (right).
Nave of Church of São Roque in Lisbon (1565–1587).
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