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Architectural style · c. 1490–1530 in Portugal

Manueline

Manuelinsk stil

Ropes in stone, anchors, shells and a celestial globe. Manueline is Gothic that has been to sea – and come home rich.

How to spot it Find it in the app

The style in timeDrag to travel in time

  1. Zigguratc. 2200–500 BC
  2. Ancient Greek architecturec. 700–30 BC
  3. Roman architecturec. 500 BC–AD 400
  4. Nabataean architecturec. 300 BC–AD 106
  5. Byzantine architecturec. 330–1453 in the Eastern Roman Empire
  6. Moorish architecture8th–15th century in al-Andalus and North Africa
  7. Carolingian architecturec. 780–900 in the Frankish Empire
  8. Novgorod and Pskovc. 1045–1600 in north-western Russia
  9. Norman architecturec. 1050–1200
  10. Romanesquec. 1050–1250
  11. Mudéjarc. 1100–1600
  12. Gothicc. 1235–1530
  13. Brick Gothicc. 1250–1530
  14. Late Gothicc. 1400–1530
  15. Manuelinec. 1490–1530
  16. Renaissancec. 1520–1650
  17. Palladian architecturec. 1550–1800
  18. Dutch Renaissancec. 1560–1650 in the Netherlands and Flanders
  19. Baroquec. 1640–1730
  20. Carolean Baroquec. 1680–1720
  21. Georgian architecture1714–1830
  22. Rocococ. 1730–1775
  23. Neoclassicismc. 1750–1850
  24. Gustavianc. 1772–1810
  25. Karl Johan stylec. 1810–1850
  26. Victorian architecture1837–1901
  27. Gothic Revivalc. 1840–1910
  28. Historicismc. 1840–1900
  29. Industrial architecturec. 1850–1950
  30. Neo-Renaissancec. 1850–1900
  31. Swiss chalet stylec. 1850–1900
  32. Landshövdingehus1875–1945
  33. Neo-Baroquec. 1880–1910
  34. Beaux-Artsc. 1830–1920
  35. National Romanticismc. 1890–1920
  36. Art Nouveauc. 1896–1914
  37. Art Decoc. 1910–1940
  38. 1910s Neoclassicismc. 1910–1920
  39. Bauhaus1919–1933
  40. Swedish Gracec. 1920–1930
  41. Functionalismc. 1930–1950
  42. Socialist classicismc. 1933–1955
  43. Post-war Swedish modernismc. 1940–1960
  44. Brutalismc. 1950–1975
  45. The Record Yearsc. 1955–1975
  46. The Million Programme1965–1974
  47. DeconstructivismFrom the 1980s
  48. Postmodernismc. 1980–1995
  49. LonghouseStone Age to Viking Age
  50. Log houseThe Middle Ages onwards
  51. Raised storehouseIron Age to 20th century
  52. Swedish vernacularc. 1600–1900
  53. Croft and cottagec. 1700–1900
  54. Decorated farmhouses of Hälsinglandc. 1700–1900
  55. Half-timberingThe Middle Ages to the 19th century
  56. Sámi goahtiFrom prehistory to the present day
  57. Seljuk architecturec. 1040–1300
  58. Persian architectureIran
  59. British Colonialc. 1700–1950 in the British Empire

01. The style of the voyages

Portugal around 1500. Vasco da Gama has reached India by sea, and spices pour into Lisbon. King Manuel I, who reigns 1495–1521, has money no Portuguese king had before him.

He builds. And he wants the buildings to tell of the oceans.

Lisbon, 1501. On the shore at Belém, where the ships set sail, work begins on the Jerónimos Monastery. Diogo de Boitaca draws the plans; around 1517 Juan de Castillo takes over and brings in Renaissance forms. The vaults rest on columns that look like twisted ropes, and the cloister is lace in stone.

Further out in the river rises the Belém Tower, 1514–1519, designed by Francisco de Arruda. It is a fortress – but dressed in stone ropes, sentry turrets and the king's symbols. On one of the corbels sits a rhinoceros. It is probably the same animal Manuel sent to the pope in 1515, and that Albrecht Dürer later drew.

The style is named only in 1842, when the historian Varnhagen calls it after the king. Much of it is destroyed in the Lisbon earthquake of 1755. But what still stands is some of the strangest architecture in Europe.

02. How to spot it

  • 1.Ropes, knots and anchors carved in stone, around portals and windows
  • 2.The armillary sphere – a celestial globe of rings – King Manuel's emblem
  • 3.The cross of the Order of Christ, red and white
  • 4.Shells, coral, seaweed and leaves in rich ornament
  • 5.Twisted columns and star vaults, Gothic forms in a new version

03. The giveaway

The rope. A portal or window framed by a thick, twisted rope in stone – preferably with knots – is Manueline. No other style does that.

04. Architects and builders

  • Diogo de Boitaca
  • Juan de Castillo
  • Francisco de Arruda
  • Diogo de Arruda

05. Where to see it

  • Jerónimos Monastery, Lisbonbegun 1501, World Heritage Site 1983
  • Belém Tower, Lisbon1514–1519, World Heritage Site 1983
  • Convent of Christ, Tomarchapter house window by Diogo de Arruda, c. 1513, World Heritage Site 1983
  • Batalha Monasterythe Unfinished Chapels
  • Royal Palace of Sintra

06. Often confused with

Late Gothic. The vaults and pointed arches are late Gothic. But the ropes, the sea motifs and the king's symbols exist only in Portugal.

Mudéjar. In Spain Gothic mixes with Islamic craftsmanship. Manueline takes inspiration from there too, but its ornament is about the sea, not geometric pattern.

Sources

  • Wikipedia (en): "Manueline"
  • Wikipedia (en): "Jerónimos Monastery"
  • Wikipedia (en): "Belém Tower"

Text: Pontus Bovin · Last updated 9 November 2026

Manueline around the corner

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