Cloister of Silence
The "Cloister of Silence", in Manueline style and designed by Marco Pires, was built between 1517 and 1522 over the previous Romanesque cloister. The ceilings have Manueline symbology - the Cross of Christ, the Armillary Sphere, the Coat of Arms of King Manuel I and vegetal symbols. As you walk through this magnificent space, you will find the chapel of Jesus, where the tombs of Dom Pedro Soares (Bishop of Guarda) and Dom Rodrigo de Carvalho (Bishop of Miranda) are to be found, as well as some of the original images on the church's façade - the rest are in the other chapels of this cloister. In the south wing is the tomb of the Infante Dom Henrique, son of King Dom Sancho I (second king of Portugal) and the tomb of Dom Miguel Salomão (Bishop of Coimbra), above which is still the tombstone of the consecration of the Church in 1228.
Another highlight is the tiled wainscot that runs along the cloister galleries, dating from the late 18th century - the themes they project are religious iconography taken from the Gospels, depicting the Beatitudes and the Parables of Christ's preaching.
In the Cloister there are 3 panels in bas-relief, by Nicolau de Chantereine, representing "The Calvary", "The Descent from the Cross" and "Ecce Homo".
In this magnificent cloister there are two fountains:
In the central plane of the cloister is a beautiful Fountain dated from 1638 and which is said to have replaced the previous ones, this fountain is topped by the figure of St Michael holding the National Shield.
In the south-western corner is the Paio Guterres Fountain, dated around 1520 (Paio Guterres was a medieval knight connected to the formation of the kingdom, to Dom Afonso Henriques and to the religious houses of St. Augustine). This fountain served the refectory ordered to be built by Dom Manuel I and was full of symbolic charge.
As we can see this notable cloister was, over the centuries, readapted to the circumstances and needs of cultural and even political strategies, even so the Cloister of Silence we see today preserves all its beauty and magnificence.