Belem is a region of Portugal’s capital city, Lisbon. The name comes from the Portuguese word for Bethlehem. Today, Belem Lisbon is known for some really incredible historic sites. While we were in Lisbon, we met up with someone I had collaborated with on a project in 2017, but hadn’t met in person before. We met up for lunch, but all three of us hit it off instantly, so we decided to spend the day exploring Belem together!
WHERE EXACTLY IS BELEM LISBON?
Belem sits on the mouth of the Tagus River to the west of Lisbon-proper. Luckily, getting to Belem Lisbon is just a quick tram or Uber ride from Old Town Lisbon. Our Uber ride took us only about 20 minutes from Time Out Market to Jerónimos Monastery. To take the tram there from Lisbon, you just jump on the E15 Route.
WHAT TO SEE IN BELEM?
There are several really wonderful historical sites and museums that you could visit. Plus, most of them are walkable from each other. (Unless you’re like us, and visit just as a massive storm rolls in!)
NATIONAL MUSEUM OF ARCHAEOLOGY
It’s a beautiful museum full of some fantastic artifacts. Some are regional, plus there is a decent amount of Egyptian artifacts. You’ll discover a lot of beautiful things here and it’s reasonably priced at €5. If you only have time for one Archaeological Museum in Lisbon, though, I would check out the National Museum of Archaeology in Old Town Lisbon “do Carmen”. It’s really cool! If this interests you at all, I would absolutely visit this first before the more iconic Jeronimos Monastery because you can purchase both tickets at once with next to no line! Plus, if you bundle the 2 visits you save €3!
Among the many Egyptian artifacts in the Museum of Archaeology in Belem Lisbon are a few really cool sarcophagi!
JERÓNIMOS MONASTERY
If you only wanted to visit the monastery, it would set you back €10. Honestly, it’s worth it. This monastery was completed in 1601 and it’s just incredible! It took 100 years to complete this gorgeous monastery. I can totally see why too!
PRO TIP: See the line in the above photo? You can skip it by buying your tickets in the Museum of Archaeology right next-door!
Walking through the courtyard is beautiful. Even the covered corridors that surround the perfectly manicured courtyard boast intricate details. The carved arches looking out into the courtyard also make for beautiful vantage points and photos.
One of the coolest photo op spots is this window. It just screams Romeo + Juliet to me! Matt and I took a smoochy photo here, but I actually think this photo of Jenny and me turned out cuter! Haha
In side the chapel of the monastery is truly beautiful. It’s called the Church of Santa Maria and you can view from and upper floor (if you enter through the courtyard) and you can also view from below. Inside are wonderful examples of brightly-colored stained glass. Also, the Church of Saint Mary is the resting place of many Portuguese royals. In addition to royalty, there’s a very notable tomb that belongs to Vasco da Gama. You may not know him by name, but he was the Portuguese navigator who discovered the ocean route to India! He made a couple of really monumental excursions in his life.
This truly stunning monastery would be at the top of my list to visit in Belem Lisbon. It’s worth joining in the crowd.
BELEM TOWER
Belem Tower is probably the most iconic visual from this area. You see a sign for Belem Lisbon, you see this tower. However, we got here right as a hailstorm hit, so our photos aren’t the best. Haha. Belem Tower was built to defend this area. It’s listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site (along with the aforementioned monastery). It’s construction was completed in 1519 and is now considered to be one of the seven wonders of Portugal. Admission to the museum inside is only €6 to visit. Unfortunately, we arrived after opening hours.
PADRÃO DOS DESCOBRIMENTO
Many of the world’s greatest discoverers and navigators came from Portugal. To celebrate this time period, known as the age of discovery, this beautiful monument was built. It has frequently been referred to as the beginning of globalization and it definitely brought a huge amount of change to the world: both good and bad. Along both sides of this monument are carvings of notable explorers. One of the most notable Portuguese explorers was Ferinand Magellan – the first to circumnavigate the globe. (I actually visited the cross Magellan had planted in the Cebu City, Philippines. It’s actually near here where he was killed during one of these explorations.)
There are so many wonderful places to discover and explore in Lisbon, and Belem is one of them. This area has so much to do, see and discover!
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10 Comments
Ann
June 30, 2018 at 11:17 amI haven’t visited Portugal yet, so was unfamiliar with the different parts of the city — although I have certainly Belem Tower in photographs from Lisbon. It’s great to learn more about this part of the city, and your pictures from the monastery are really beautiful. Love the detailed of the ribbed vaults.
Rashmi and Chalukya
July 1, 2018 at 1:04 amWe visited Lisbon couple of years back and we spent a day exploring the Belem region. There is so much to see there especially the Belem Tower, the Discovery Monument and the Jeronimos monastery are magnificent. Did you try Pastel de nata at the Pasteis de Belem Restaurant? They are very famous, unfortunately we missed it.
Kavita Favelle
July 1, 2018 at 5:15 amLisbon is really high on my list. I visited as a teenager but so many decades ago I’m discounting it, and after more recent trips to Porto and other parts of Portugal, Lisbon has risen high on my wishlist. I love your guide to Belem, it gives a wonderful idea of what to see and enjoy on a visit.
Medha Verma
July 1, 2018 at 8:52 amTo be honest, I have not heard of Belem before and since I am in the process of preparing my itinerary for Portugal next year, maybe I need to look into visiting Belem too. I love the architecture of the Jeronimos Monastery, its so cool! Also, Belem Tower as well as Padrao Dos Descobrimento look really nice!
Carol
July 1, 2018 at 11:04 amWe will be in Lisbon first week of November. I hope to see the iconic monastery and tower in Belem. Also celebrate Ferdinand Magellan who discovered my home country, the Philippines!
Katja Gaskell
July 1, 2018 at 4:38 pmI was in Lisbon just a few months ago and loved my trip to the monastery and tower in Belem. We’d been told the insider tip about buying our tickets in the archaeology museum as well and it saved us a lot of time! I particularly liked the Padrao dos Descobrimento and its sense of history and adventure.
Sara
July 2, 2018 at 8:37 amThe accessibility and history of Belem Lisbon really makes it a must visit. The Egyptian exhibition at the Museum of Archaeology totally caught my attention.
The architecture in general as well is completely captivating.
Danni L
July 2, 2018 at 1:07 pmI loved the Jeronimos Monastery too – it’s steeped in history. I didn’t realise that the famous Belem Tower was as old as 1519 either but smiled to see you guys rocking it despite the weather. Great take on a great city!
sherianne
July 3, 2018 at 12:06 amI’m planning a trip to Portugal this Fall and must see the Belem tower. I will make it a point to check out the monastery as well!
Tracie Howe
July 3, 2018 at 12:17 pmI have briefly visited Lisbon and seen Belem Tower, but not these other sites. I love Egyptian artifacts, so that’s definitely a point of interest for me. And that monastery is absolutely stunning!!