Everything about The New Cathedral Of Coimbra totally explained
The
New Cathedral of Coimbra (Portuguese:
Sé Nova de Coimbra) is the current bishopric seat of the city of
Coimbra, in
Portugal. The Cathedral is located near the historical
University of Coimbra in the upper part of the town (
Alta de Coimbra).
History
The New Cathedral was, originally, the church of the
Jesuit College of Coimbra, established in the city in 1541. The church started being built in 1598, designed by the official architect of the Portuguese Jesuits,
Baltasar Álvares, whose project was influenced by the church of the
Monastery of São Vicente de Fora in
Lisbon. Building work proceeded slowly; the church was open for mass in 1640, but it was inaugurated only in 1698.
In 1759, the Jesuit Order was banned from Portugal by the
Marquis of Pombal, Prime-Minister of
King José I. In 1772, the bishopric seat was transferred from the old
Romanesque Cathedral of the city (now called the
Old Cathedral of Coimbra) to the vacant, spacious and more modern Jesuit church.
The church architecture was influential in the Portuguese colonial world. The façade of the former Jesuit church of
Salvador, in
colonial Brazil, (now the
Cathedral of Salvador), built in the 17th century, seems inspired by the Jesuit church of Coimbra.
Description
The niches of the façade of the New Cathedral carry statues of four Jesuit saints. The
Baroque decoration of the upper part of the façade, finished in the beginning of the 18th century, contrasts with the lower part, which follows a rigid
Mannerist style. The church has two bell towers located just behind the main façade and a
dome over the
crossing.
The interior, covered with
barrel vaulting, has one
nave with several lateral chapels and a
transept with a
dome and
cupola. Both transept arms and the main chapel of the
apse are decorated with huge, magnificent gilt wood
altarpieces built between the 17th and 18th centuries which are fine examples of the so-called "national" Portuguese artarpiece style. The lateral chapels of the nave have altarpieces in Mannerist and Baroque styles.
The 17th-century choir stalls of the main chapel were brought from the Old Cathedral, as well as the beautiful stone baptismal font, carved by
Pero and
Felipe Henriques in late
Gothic-
manueline style in the beginning of the 16th century.
Further Information
Get more info on 'New Cathedral Of Coimbra'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://new_cathedral_of_coimbra.totallyexplained.com">New Cathedral of Coimbra Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
