Convento do Carmo
(Carmelite Church)
Construction on this Carmelite church began at the end of the 14th century,
although problems with its foundation delayed completion for years. It
was finished in the finest Gothic style to become the second largest church,
after the Sé (Cathedral), in Lisbon. Then the great earthquake toppled
its ceiling. That part of the church that survived intact now houses the
Museu Nacional de Arqueología, but most of the church was never
rebuilt, so it serves today as dramatic evidence of that cataclysm. Past
the entry there is a startling grassy sward, and skeletal walls, apse,
and arches—all is quiet inside, and moving.
Lisbon
Portugal
