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… just west of the April 25 bridge. [Belém = Bethlehem]. Built (1521) for King João II in late Gothic style with extensive Manueline ornamentation, it was intended as both a fortress at the western end of the city and as a commemoration of Vasco da Gama’s explorations. The lower portion is a military bastion, featuring breech-loading cannons. The superimposed tower has four storeys and an observation platform. Subsequent to the Spanish conquest in 1580, and for decades thereafter, it languished as a storehouse and prison, but was restored to its former glory in the mid-1800s. In 1983 it was classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
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Western Europe
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