Скачать или смотреть Coimbra, Portugal—Santa Cruz Monastery

As the pantheon of the country’s first two kings, this is one of Portugal’s most important churches. It’s part of a 12th-century monastery, but little remains of the original temple from 1131. Most of it dates from a major restoration in the 1500s, which followed the Manueline (Portuguese Gothic) style of the time. The Gothic royal tombs date from that period and were placed in the chancel. The choir stalls were carved in 1518, with a frieze showing the Portuguese ships of that “Age of Discovery.” The complex organ, with Japanese ornamentation, has 4000 pipes, and only four people can play it. The rest of the interior is decorated with baroque tile panels, illustrating episodes of the history of Portugal. Due to errors at the factory in Lisbon, they have different shades of blue. They covered 12th-century frescoes, which faded after constant flooding of the church.