Jerónimos Monastery

Around here is the Jerónimos Monastery, a limestone masterpiece that took a century to build and stands as Portugal's monument to its Age of Discovery. This is where the wealth of an empire, built on spices from distant lands, was transformed into stone and prayer. In 1501, King Manuel I ordered its construction to honor Vasco da Gama, who had returned from India two years earlier.

The twist? Before setting sail in 1497, da Gama spent his last night in Portugal praying at the tiny chapel that once stood on this exact spot, seeking protection for the dangerous journey ahead. The king financed this architectural wonder through the Vintena da Pimenta, a 5% tax on all spice imports from Africa and Asia. This "pepper tax" alone brought in the equivalent of 70 kilograms of gold each year. Inside, monks of the Order of Saint Jerome prayed daily for sailors departing from these shores.

The monastery houses the tombs of Vasco da Gama and poet Luís de Camões, who wrote The Lusiads celebrating da Gama's voyage. When the catastrophic 1755 earthquake destroyed much of the region, this structure remained standing. UNESCO declared it a World Heritage Site in 1983.