A Medieval Castle Outside Lisbon, Portugal: Castelo dos Mouros (Castle of the Moors)

High on a hill above the city of Sintra, outside of Lisbon, Portugal, are the remains of a medieval Moorish castle. Built by the Moors in the 8th or 9th century, Portuguese kings gained control after the Siege of Lisbon in  1147. The castle was damaged in a 1636 fire and suffered further damage during the Great Lisbon Earthquake of 1755. It would have been left to complete ruins if it hadn't been for King Ferdinand II, a patron of the arts who romanticized the middle ages and decided to reconstruct the castle in the 1800s. It's now a National Monument of Portugal and a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site.

A map showing the layout of the sprawling castle:

Exploring the castle:

Lisbon's Convento do Carmo: Gargoyles in the Ruins

The ruins of the Gothic Convento do Carmo remain in the heart of Lisbon, preserved as skeletal remains instead of being rebuilt. Along with much of the city, the medieval convent and church was destroyed by the Great Lisbon Earthquake of 1755.

The section of the building that remains intact has been turned into an archaeological museum, and the open-air nave ruins now serve as a courtyard with stone artifacts including tombs with gargoyles watching them from above. 

 

Lisbon's Jerónimos Monastery: Gargoyles and Cloisters

Last month I completed revisions on the second Jaya Jones Treasure Hunt Mystery, Pirate Vishnu, and I've just returned from a trip to Portugal and England, so I have no excuse for not posting some new gargoyle photos! This summer I'll be posting photos of gargoyles, castles, and other mysterious sights from this trip.

Portugal has some gorgeous architecture. Below are photos from Lisbon's Jerónimos Monastery, in the neighborhood of Belem. The current structure was built in the 1500s. The architecture is Manueline, aka Portuguese Late Gothic. It's an ornate style that was paid for by Portugal's lucrative spice trade with India and influenced by Portuguese explorers' maritime travels. 

The cloisters.

 --Gigi

Happy Holidays from Gargoyle Girl

This fall, I haven't kept up with posting new photos each week. Having a book out is more work than I anticipated! The response to Artifact has exceeded my expectations, so I've chosen to focus on writing above photography for the moment. I'm going to continue with the Gargoyle Girl blog in the new year, but in order to finish revisions on the next book in the series on schedule, my photo posts may be less frequent. But I've got a lot more mysterious photos to share, so I'll be back!

This is one of my favorite photos from my fall vacation: 

a father and son in front of street art in the Marais neighborhood in Paris. 

Happy holidays!

Prague's Architectural Details Up Close

My husband was a great sport while we were in Prague. Every few steps, I was in awe of some new architectural detail I wanted to stop and admire. Below are examples of three buildings from afar, and then their ornamental details shown up close.

The buildings seen from our hotel window in New Town. 

A building where I found an ATM machine to get Czech Korunas (crowns). 

New Town Hall. 

The Gargoyles of St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague

St. Vitus Cathedral sits atop Castle Hill in Prague. The Gothic structure dominates the Prague skyline and is often thought to be Prague Castle itself, but technically it's just one of the many buildings inside the Prague Castle complex. Cathedral construction began under the rule Charles IV in 1344, designed by French architect Matthias of Arras, then German architect Peter Parler. It took six centuries to complete.

It was a stormy October day when I walked across the Charles Bridge and up to the Prague Castle complex. A perfect day for visiting the gargoyles perched high on the cathedral.

--Gigi