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Mosteiro dos Jeronimos. This monastery once housed the monks of the order of St. Jerome, was the idea of Manuel I. He ordered it to be built to honor Vasco da Gama's discovery of the sea route to India. Construction began in 1502 and took nearly the entire 16th century to complete, largely financed by so-called "pepper money," a 5% tax levied by Manuel I on all income from the spice trade. The monks who lived here were responsible for giving spiritual guidance to Portugal's sailors, until the order's dissolution in 1833 at which time it was converted into an orphanage until 1940.
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Western Europe
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