Today’s post is inspired by the lovely Jo. She sent me a text last week sharing that she was sitting in the sunshine enjoying a glass of wine reflecting on the day visit to the incredible Jerónimos Monastery. I was delighted to learn she had finally made it here, albeit a little part of me, ok HUGE, was also very envious that she was there and I wasn’t! Still I do have my memories and photographs to look back on, and hopefully soon Jo will be telling us all about her Portuguese adventures this Autumn. For now though let us return to the monastery and take a closer look at one of the rooms inside.
The refectory was designed by Leonardo Vaz and completed in 1517, and it was at this point the monks moved into their monastery. It was here, under the stunning fan-vaulted ceiling, they had their meals accompanied by the sound of someone reading outloud the Holy Scriptures.
I love the fact the dining hall was such an important part of the monastery, and that it was completed years before many other areas. In fact work was still on-going decades later; the upper cloisters and upper choir were not completed for another 30years, and the organ in the upper choir and the tiles in the dining hall were not in situ until the late 18th century. The tiles apparently depict the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand one the north wall, and the life of Joseph in Egypt on the other side. However I seemed to mostly take shots of the flowers!
I couldn’t find any photographs of the monks in the refectory but I did find this one of the pupils when a home and school for orphans was founded here by Pina Manique, the General Superintendent of Police which has enabled me to enter this month’s photography challenge Past meets Present. Have you taken part yet?
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