2000 – The Igreja de São Vicente de Fora (left) and the Mosteiro de São Vicente de Fora in Lisbon, Portugal. © Mark Zanzig/zanzig.com
The story behind the image
Sometimes I stumble upon a beautiful image that has slumbered in the archive for decades, and I have no idea where I shot it. Well, I do know the city or general location, but that’s about it. In such cases, I use Google Maps to virtually re-visit the place and find the place. This also brings back fond memories associated with that trip and photo.
However, this image from Lisbon, Portugal, had totally puzzled me. At first I thought that it shows the Basilica da Estrela. There are the two church towers and the smaller long building at its side. Okay, admittedly that building looks different, but that could be the effect of reconstruction works. Who knows? But the rest did not match very well either. Especially when I spotted the long bridge across the Tejo river in the back – the Ponte Vasso da Gama – I knew that I was wrong. Oh, my!
I started a new search.
Now I know that this is the Igreja de São Vicente de Fora (The Church of São Vicente) and the Mosteiro de São Vicente de Fora (The Monastery of São Vicente). The monastery dates back to the 11th century. Today, it can be visited and also has a permanent exhibition. (Read more on the official website.) Behind the monastery you see the top of the Igreja de Santa Engrácia (the Panteão Nacional) where various national heroes and statesmen have been buried.
I took this shot most likely from the Castelo de São Jorge or the nearby Torre da Igreja do Castelo de São Jorge which provides excellent views across the city, including this one.
The high resolution image
| Capture Date | 2000 |
| Location | Lisbon, Portugal |
| Camera | Canon AE-1 Program |
| Image Source | Fuji Slide Film |
| Digital Image Source | EPSON Perfection 4870 Photo |
| Digital Image Source Format | TIFF, 48 bits/pixel, sRGB |
| Edited Image Format | JPEG, 24 bits/pixel, sRGB |
| Edited Image Dimensions | 6414 x 4025 Pixels |
| Copyright | © by Mark Zanzig/zanzig.com |
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