Our trip begins with a deeply frustrating rental car experience: Surprice does not accept our pre-paid insurance or our 'debit card', and insists we pay an extra 135€ for 'their insurance'. We tell the man, we already have insurance from the the website that brokered the reservation. We also tell him our 'debit card' can be used like a credit card, other agencies have used it – but he won't even try the card. If he offered 35€ or even 50€ for insurance, he'd be selling insurance, and we might not say a thing. At 135€ he's not selling insurance, he's just ripping us off.
Our trip is planned. We have no choice. He knows. Surprice? No kidding.
From the guide book photos, the Portuguese coast is all cliffs and sand. But right near Aveiro, it turns into a tidal marsh. Between Figueira da Foz, where the Rio Mondego meets the Atlantic, north to the Foz do Douro, Aveiro centers a part of the coast, where the Rio Vouga and the Rio Boco empty into a lagoon, the Ria de Aveiro – more precisely between the towns of Mira and Espinho.
Our intention is to setup in the town of Ílhavo, on the Rio Boco, and explore this unique part of Portugal. But first, we make a rest stop in Leiria. Strategically located midway between Santarém and Coimbra, Leiria is a town we missed when we toured the area in February, when we were with a friend and simply did not have time. But it's the perfect stopping point on this trip. Our Portuguese host, José Saramago, sets our expectations:
The countryside opens out gently in front of him, apparently without surprises, and the traveller is not expecting any. But he is wrong: the castle at Leiria is a very pleasant place for a stroll, with its wooded walks, its narrow paths, and picturesque ruins. The magnificent loggia in Dom Dinis’ palace conjures up images of courtly ladies trailing their long gowns as they listen to exquisite poetry and prose whispered to them by ardent lovers. No more ardent than the embrace a boy and girl are giving each other in a corner, looking as though they are joined together from mouth to knee, as young people do. The traveller asks himself severely whether or not he is passing a moral judgment, but decides he is not, particularly when he bears in mind that the lady and her admirer would have done the same in ancient times, although not in such a public place. Seen from here, Leiria is beautiful. (José Saramago, “Journey to Portugal,” 1990; trans Hopkinson-Caistor, 2000)
Our idea is to park in the small square just to the east of the Castelo, the Largo de São Pedro, and take the gentle walk up. But a big construction project has taken over the Largo; a large ruined building is under renovation – here's hoping it'll be a parking garage.
More parking is available at the Sé, but there is no ramp (how do you get in there?), so we park at the bottom of the hill, near the town's sports complex (with piscinas and estádio), where we discover a nice, new funicular hidden in the wooded hills. This is 'Elevador Castelo 2' ('Elevador do Castelo', which still has a Google Maps pin, is nowhere to be found). The funicular delivers us to the base of the north guard tower, and the Porta dos Castelinhos is just on the other side.
The Castelo de Leiria dates from 1135, when Dom Alfonso Henriques took the site during the Reconquista, and is now open to the public after several years of renovation – it re-opened in the summer of 2021, so the project team timed things 'perfectly' for the pandemic. Saramago's 'traveller' would not recognize it.
A new bilheteria and vending-machine cafe sits within the old Casa da Guarda. In the outer bailey workers are grooming the paths and tending the plantings. A stepped amphitheater of stark white stone looks out to the north and, we imagine, can be used to gather and launch school field trips. And just beyond, the old cisternas are open for inspection.
Above the outer bailey, our path turns south, though the gate tower, the Porta da Albacara (think 'cattle chute'), and to the inner bailey. This includes the Paços, the Torre de Menagem, and the Igreja all in proximity.
Inside the Castelo, the approach consists of a long ramping defensive area, with all three major structures visible above the partially ruined walls. Into the sally port, the clean, warm blocks that form the Gothic entrance to the Igreja greet us on the right; fresh, new pavers lead us in.
Then the traveller went to visit the nearby ruins of the church of Nossa Senhora da Pena. Nothing identifiable remains of the stones making it up in the time of Dom Afonso Henriques. What can be seen is from the fourteenth century, when it was rebuilt. The church is of medium size, and must once have been a fine building. Even today, roofless and open to the winds, it has a beauty all its own, which comes from the sense of proportion it gives, especially against the obligatory reference of scale that the palace offers in the background. (José Saramago, “Journey to Portugal,” 1990; trans Hopkinson-Caistor, 2000)
The Igreja de Nossa Senhora da Pena, its construction ordered by Dom Dinis in the early 1300's, is no longer open to the winds. A new roof, lighting, and clear glass in the lancet openings provide protection and easy viewing, though all sense of patina is absent. Still, the stonework is now safe and enjoyed in comfort, especially the lively lines of the Gothic vaulting at the apse and the vegetal carvings of the Manueline arch at the west 'entry'.
Through another defensive portal, and we reach the Paços Reais. The Paços' lower level houses the new Núcleo Museológico da Torre de Menagem, which displays a wonderful collection of artifacts and reconstructions, providing context for the exploration ahead.
From the Museu, there are a few steps to the terraço, and the entry to the Paços Reais. We arrive in a 'formal' alcáçova, the Salão Nobre (Salão das Audiências), the great hall of the citadel. To the west, an adjoining room is dressed as a 'throne room', and the Gothic loggia, with views south over the Sé and the town, is just in front.
The loggia gives the Castelo its unique look and presence (as viewed from town), and the interior is in an exquisite state of restoration. Just enough patina remains in the edges. With our minds' eyes, we overlay the variegated pavers from the Museu on the floor, here and there. Perhaps it's the distant views or the open-air nature of the salão and the loggia, compared to the Igreja which is now sealed, but this space feels 'lived-in'.
Another set of stairs takes us around the Igreja and to the upper level, where we find the Torre de Menagem. From the west, we step into a small, walled yard, with a tall bastion to the south and the Torre to the north. A narrow stair at the base of the Torre brings us up to the parapets.
From this level we can enter the Torre which contains a new set of wood and steel platforms, and allows roof-level access. From the roof, with the midday sun's sparking highlights in the stonework, the views over the battlements to the town and the hills beyond are fantastic.
Unfortunately, a planning committee's decision locates the estádio just north of the Castelo. The seats inside are randomized to make the place look 'crowded'. They should have broken down the roof the same way, so it might dissolve in the grain.
On the north side of the inner bailey, opposite the Igreja and the Paços, there is another walled yard with partial views out, and good views back to the Castelo. The entire facility is well-maintained, with thriving plants and trees, and purple wildflowers clinging to the rocks.
We descend to the Largo de São Pedro, through the dusty construction site, and into the city of Leiria in search of lunch. Leiria is a small-ish city (pop, 128,640 in 2021). As per usual, the steep slopes near the castle are packed tight with terraced pathways and narrow roads, and artful little shops. Tomorrow is Coro de Deus, and several 'steady-looking' teachers are leading groups of school children along the cobbles towards the Sé. The children all wear yellow sun hats, and their excited energy echoes in the labyrinth.
Lunch and exterior photos give the children time to tour and depart the interior of the Sé de Leiria (Sé Catedral de Nossa Senhora da Conceição, mid-sixteenth century), so we can scrutinize in peace and solitude. The history of its construction is nearly two hundred years, but was interrupted near completion by the Earthquake of 1755, which caused severe damage.
The facade is regulated by four chunky buttresses, with heavier, taller elements at the corners. The cornice traces the buttresses, which pass through the pediment and are capped with large finials. That cornice and the wide, flowing stairs help tie the facade together. Three sets of ordered doors are framed by pilasters and arches. The windows above them are surrounded by slightly more sinuous, Baroque-looking stonework.
The Nova Torre Sineira stands some distance uphill from the Largo da Sé (built in 1772, after the 1755 temblor destroyed the old bell tower). It forms one side of the archway that leads to the Largo de São Pedro. Next to the Torre we see the 'Elevador do Castelo', a literal, vertical elevator, but absorbed and blocked by the construction work (oh well, where would be have parked anyway?).
The interior of the Catedral is as sober as the outside, and surprisingly monumental. It is another repair-job, ruined after a fire during the French invasion in the early 1800's – the Sé has seen its share. The interior is thus from the mid-nineteenth century, which accounts for the sharp Neoclassicism.
The Catedral's interior consists of four bays marked by beefy, square, bundled columns. The altar faces directly into the crossing, where there is a platform for the chancel. The choir is behind the chancel, and the altar behind the choir.
At each end of the transept there is chapel: to the north there is the Capela da Nossa Senhora da Conceição (Evangelho) and to the south there is the Capela do Sagrado Coração de Jesus (Epístola). The Capelas are not over-dramatic, and tastefully framed by spiraling columns trimmed in gold.
The Capela Mor holds three stacked triptychs by Simão Rodrigues (1560-1629). On the lower level, Saint John (above the eagle on the left) and Saint Luke (above the bull on the right) encase a Crucifixion (eighteenth century) on a bright blue scrim. On the second level, Saint Matthew (above the angel on the left) and Saint Mark (above the winged lion on the right) bookend a panel containing The Assumption of the Virgin. On the top level, the two side images are impossible to read, but the roundel in the center shows the Coronation of Our Lady with the Holy Trinity (Father, Son, Holy Spirit).
We finish our tour of Leiria in the small neighborhood between the back the Sé and the Rio Lis. As we cross the river, the quality of the cityscape changes to something more generic and modern, with big-box stores and apartment blocks. How quickly things can change.
We are almost immediately onto the highway and on our way to Ílhavo, and our hotel on the flats of the Rio Boco. Arriving before dark, we have a room with a view of nesting storks. The way they make their nests on bell towers or chimneys still fascinates, though the nest made by these storks doesn't seem quite as 'neat' as the ones we saw in Beira – look at all those loose sticks on the roof tiles. That can't be good for the flashing.
No comments:
Post a Comment