Forte de São Filipe and the church of Santa Maria. Belem.

Fort of São Filipe de Setúbal,

The fortress was originally constructed in the 16th Century high above Setubal protecting the mouth of the River Sado from inavders, pirates and privateers.

Even today it dominates the skyline commanding impressive views, clearly the right place to defend the shoreline

There are two ways to get to the fort from the town, an exhilarating exhausting half hour uphill hike.

Or be sensible like me and use a taxi.

It is greatly restored having been damaged by earthquakes and fire, declared a national Monument in the 1990's it was conserved and partly converted into a rather plush boutique hotel. Which due to structural instabillity was closed in 2014.

Exploring the ramparts, grounds and battlements, was pretty damn boring to be honest, but the panoramic views were greatly appreciated.

What was pretty cool was the tiny baroque chapel inside the fort

The walls clad with iconic blue and white Potrugese Azulejo tiles,

Each montage depicting a scene from the life of Philip I. After whom the Fortress is named.

Santa Maria Belem
Lisbon

The church of Saint Mary is stuck on the side, part of the greater Jerónimos Monastery, which now is the home to a couple of museums, to enter if you really wanted to, costs money(average price £20, or if you go all disney and want to skip the line the price doubles, but alas no thrill ride the other side) and one does have to queue for ages mingling with the great unwashed. Let us instead have a look inside the church, which is free and less populated.

The complex took over 100 years to construct, starting in the early years of the 16th C. At the time King Manuel I was the boss in these here parts, the building was funded by recovering taxes from the imports of gold, but not spices and other such wondrous items which went directly into his back pocket.

With all that money pouring in there seemed to be no limit to the various architect's designs ( always good when youn are spending other people's money) and visions.

Now good old Manny needed someone to occupy the place he decided upon the religious order of Hieronymite monks......

Their role was simply to pray for the HIS eternal soul (selfish) and to provide spiritual assistance to the seafarers who sailed from the port of on a journey of discovery to plunder distant lands around the world. (greedy)

They obviously did a good job as they lasted for over four centuries until then 19th C , when the religious orders were dissolved and the monastery was abandoned

Just six 80ft high pillars support the ceiling

All of which are intricately carved

In fact inside the church was pretty much dead, just like Vasco de Gama. All hail to this fine chap, who "discovered" India, and brought us from the west coast the amazing tastes and textures of the Vindaloo curry.