| | Torre de Belem UNESCO World Heritage Site Portugal |
 | | Its harmonious and distinctive shape is sharply outlined against the sky and the water of the River Tagus, and the delicate decoration of its stone suggests to those who feast their eyes upon it the appearance of a finely carved jewel. |
 | | It was, however, seen differently by those living at the time of its construction, for whom the tower was a formidable and fearsome defensive fortress at the entrance to the river estuary, which was the function that its founder D. Manuel I had intended for it. |
 | | The Torre dc Belem was an essential part of the defensive system for the mouth of the River Tagus, providing crossfire with the fortress of Sao Sebastiao da Caparica on the south bank. |
| www.manorhouses.com /unesco/whbelem.html (486 words) |