Before construction of the monastery, a church – Hermitage of Restelo (Ermida do Restelo) – stood on the site. Vasco da Gama spent his last night in the church before his voyage to the Far East before leaving to discover India (1497) Construction of the monastery began in 1501 and lasted 100 years. King Manuel I selected the Hieronymites order of monks to reside in the complex. King Manuel I choose this relatively small order as they guaranteed to provide spiritual protection to the king once he died. The Hieronymites order were dedicated to Saint Jerome, hence name of the monastery, and he was a 5th-century scholar who translated the original bible into Latin. The Hieronymite monks occupied the monastery until 1833 when the order was dissolved and the monastery abandoned. The monastery was secularized by state decree in 1833. After it fell into disrepair, renovations and reconstruction began in 1860 and continued on and off for the next century and a half, through 2002. In 1907 Mosteiro dos Jeronimos was declared a National Monument and in 1983 it became a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Treaty of Lisbon, which instituted reforms to the functioning of the European Union, was signed at the monastery on December 13, 2007.
Before construction of the monastery, a church – Hermitage of Restelo (Ermida do Restelo) – stood on the site. Vasco da Gama spent his last night in the church before his voyage to the Far East before leaving to discover India (1497) Construction of the monastery began in 1501 and lasted 100 years. King Manuel I selected the Hieronymites order of monks to reside in the complex. King Manuel I choose this relatively small order as they guaranteed to provide spiritual protection to the king once he died. The Hieronymites order were dedicated to Saint Jerome, hence name of the monastery, and he was a 5th-century scholar who translated the original bible into Latin. The Hieronymite monks occupied the monastery until 1833 when the order was dissolved and the monastery abandoned. The monastery was secularized by state decree in 1833. After it fell into disrepair, renovations and reconstruction began in 1860 and continued on and off for the next century and a half, through 2002.
Before construction of the monastery, a church – Hermitage of Restelo (Ermida do Restelo) – stood on the site. Vasco da Gama spent his last night in the church before his voyage to the Far East before leaving to discover India (1497) Construction of the monastery began in 1501 and lasted 100 years. King Manuel I selected the Hieronymites order of monks to reside in the complex. King Manuel I choose this relatively small order as they guaranteed to provide spiritual protection to the king once he died. The Hieronymites order were dedicated to Saint Jerome, hence name of the monastery, and he was a 5th-century scholar who translated the original bible into Latin. The Hieronymite monks occupied the monastery until 1833 when the order was dissolved and the monastery abandoned. The monastery was secularized by state decree in 1833. After it fell into disrepair, renovations and reconstruction began in 1860 and continued on and off for the next century and a half, through 2002.
The Church of Sta. Maria at Mosteiro dos Jeronimos was original constructed to commemorate the safe return of Vasco da Gama and his men. The ground work of the church was constructed during the reign of Manuel I (1515-1520). It contains the tombs (made by the sculptor Costa Mota in the late 19th century) of explorer Vasco da Gama and poet Luís de Camões.