BEFORE THE CONVENT TURNED INTO A LUXURY HOTEL, its cloister had Magnolias (Magnolia grandiflora - I think that there were two of them). Lush and admirable trees, that probably had been there for centuries.

In the extinct convent, the Gothic-Manueline cloister is to be noticed, with four corridors and two granite buttressed floors, marble columns with naturalist capitals, twin arcades, rib vaults and royal locks, armillary spheres and crosses of Christ. It was built by masters of stonemasonry João Álvares and Álvaro Anes (1520-22).
Translated from Túlio Espanca, Évora - Arte e História (Art and History). 1980.

NOTE: See also THE CONVENT OF NOSSA SENHORA DO ESPINHEIRO and the cloister of SANTA MARIA DE CELAS MONASTERY.

[Portuguese post on Mar 30th, 2008]

Category: THE HERITAGE

Dec. 2008: Images down to 20% of ORIGINAL SIZE (click to see). Comments closed.

A fungus on a dead tree - woodland in the surroundings of Óbidos - Portugal.

[Portuguese post on Mar 28th, 2008]

Category: NATURALLY

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The two little Cork Oaks (Quercus suber, family Fagaceae) are growing up. Both acorns are from the same tree (here is where they came from) and were seeded on January 15th, 2008. We had some cold weather last week and that's probably why the «corkies» didn't get much higher.
Other posts about them under the same category.
Cascais, Portugal.

[Portuguese post on Mar 26th, 2008]

Category: A STORY ABOUT CORK OAKS

Dec. 2008: Comments closed.

A very nice group of Umbrella pines (Pinus pinea, family Pinaceae) - Batalha, Portugal.
Batalha means Battle: the town was named after the Battle of Aljubarrota, to celebrate the Portuguese victory against Castile (now Spain).

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These trees are probably Canary laurels (Apollonias barbujana, family Lauraceae) at Ribeira Brava - Madeira Island, Portugal.

[Portuguese post on Mar 26th, 2008]

Category: THE CITY

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Woodland at Carvalhal - Bombarral (Leiria district), Portugal
(Carvalhal means Oak woodland).

[Portuguese post on Mar 24th, 2008]

Category: NATURALLY

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[Portuguese post on Mar 23rd, 2008 - Easter Sunday]

Category: MOUNTS AND VALLEYS

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- A DAY OF CELEBRATIONS (this year, it was also the Good Friday) . . .

. . . The beginning of Spring (Northern Hemisphere).

Judas Tree (Cercis siliquastrum, Leguminosae family) - Cascais, Portugal.

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. . . The Arbor Day in Portugal (different countries, different days).

Native woodland of Portuguese Oak (Quercus faginea, Fagaceae family) in the Arrabida Natural Park (Parque Natural da Arrábida) - Sesimbra, Portugal.

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Umbrella pine (Pinus pinea, family Pinaceae) in the King's Pine Forest (Pinhal do Rei or Mata Nacional dos Medos), Natural Reserve of the Fossil Cliff of Costa da Caparica (Reserva Natural da Arriba Fóssil da Costa da Caparica) - Almada, Portugal.

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There are many people showing up on this day to speak and care for the trees. But the rest of the year long, in towns and cities of Portugal, many more people constantly claim and act against the trees - because they hide the views, or because they house birds and the cars underneath get all dirty, or because their leaves drop down during Autumn, or because ...
And so, in Portugal, because of these serious drawbacks, the trees are convicted... and executed, even when they are in blossom!

The remains of the war, in the municipality of Cascais - Portugal.

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. . . The World Poetry Day (declared by UNESCO in 1999).

A beautiful big Cedar (Cedrus sp, Pinaceae family) in La Granje Park - Geneva, Switzerland.

To be great, be whole: nothing
from you exaggerate or exclude.
Be all in everything. Put as much as you are
in the very least you do.
Thus in every lake the moon all
shines, because she high lives.

Ricardo Reis, Odes (first published in 1933), translated from Portuguese.
Ricardo Reis is one of Fernando Pessoa's heteronyms.

[Portuguese post on Mar 21st, 2008]

Category: THE TREE

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To read about and comment on the blog:

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The petition: on June 12th, 00:00 - 21 242 signatures

Comment: Our european governors have now TOGUETHER decreed the New World SLAVERY (65 working hours per week!) in Europe. And still they are ELECTED sovereign members of sovereign countries with sovereign laws. So we can pretty well imagine what they will be able to decree if they get to be only ONE NON-ELECTED GOVERNMENT over Europe without countries, as the Lisbon Treaty states. This is a huge responsability we are throwing on Irish shoulders, but that’s the only way we’ve got left to fight for our freedom and democracy.

ANOTHER EUROPE IS POSSIBLE.
IRISH FRIENDS PLEASE VOTE NO FOR ME, FOR YOU, FOR US!

UPDATE on June 13th: 53,4% said NO! GOD BLESS IRELAND!

Category: OTHER IMAGES

Dec. 2008: Comments closed.

[Portuguese post on Maundy Thursday - Mar 20th, 2008]

Crucified Christ, Toledo Historical Centre - Castilla-La Mancha, Spain.

NOTE: Other posts on Toledo, Spain - WORLD HERITAGE and A WOOD VENEER DOOR.

Category: A CLOSE LOOK

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Comment by Pilia Emmanuele - 2008-06-15 - 20:41:40
If you love holy subject in architecture you must have an hollyday in Naples: every street, every build have a Holy Icon
or other... :)

Comment by AM.MA - 2008-06-17 - 00:33:40
Well I love architecture and stone sculpture - and this is a good example of both, I believe.
And I've only been to Italy once, driving by car with some friends (a very, very long trip!) but we have only seen the Northern country down to Siena. I hope I can go back sometime and visit Napoli (among other things, of course!).

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- is usually celebrated on March 22nd, since Rio Earth Summit (United Nations Conference on Environment and Development) in 1992.
This year it was exceptionally celebrated on March 20th.

Water is a precious natural resource, that civilised and developed countries cheerfully waste. Just look at the irrigating systems (baddly)working in Portuguese private and public gardens...

Safe and free drinking water - two examples in Europe: left, on the side of a mountain walk (Wengen, Swiss Alps); right, at the Olhão waterfront (Algarve, Portugal).

And yet water is a scarce and almost inaccessible resource for large millions of people on Earth, for drinking as for hygiene and sanitation: Every 20 seconds, a child dies as a result of the abysmal sanitation conditions endured by some 2.6 billion people globally (excerpt from the message of the United Nations Secretary-General for World Water Day 2008 - read more in World Water Day '08 web site).

[Portuguese post on Mar 20th, 2008]

Category: THE WATER

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Comment by Pilia Emmanuele - 2008-06-11 - 16:47:13
Niclely... So rustic! :)

Comment by AM.MA - 2008-06-11 - 18:24:24
The water on the left image looks so fresh and cool that we feel like drinking it!
And somehow it reminds us of japanese gardens (that's also why my japanese friend took the picture).

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