The Tragic Beauty of Portugal

Everywhere I go, whether on a train, bus, or simply out our front door, there is ruin. Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of lovely well kept buildings, and many very modern ones, but always there is the sign of economic struggle. Some of the buildings I have seen in this state could have been mansions, with pillars, courtyards, beautiful carvings and the remains of tiles clinging to crumbling plaster.They must have been very grand when they were first built. But now they wear a new mask, one of weeds, and decay, but underneath you can see the beauty that existed. My dear friend Bethany captured it perfectly when she said “there’s a kind of tragic beauty to these buildings.”

This building is surrounded by roads: the most traffic-ridden area in all of Coimbra. It looks like it may have once been a school house, or maybe a farm. I wouldn’t be surprised if its ruin was brought about by the building of the roads. It is also right next to a cluster of modern flats. What a great example of the changes this country has undergone in the past 50 years. Only 30 years ago the dictatorship was still present, and people lived a far simpler, non-Westernised life. Even Coca-Cola was banned! Apparently it was the dictatorship that caused much of this ruin, as people left their country and homes behind them to seek freedom elsewhere. They returned when the peaceful revolution was over, but neglect had gripped many places, and there is simply not enough money to resurrect or demolish so many ruins; there would, it seems, be no financial gain to be made.

Churches are one of the worst hit by this trend. There are churches literally everywhere, with Catholic attendance still quite high. I have a feeling it’s going to get worse as the congregation numbers dip, like they have in so many other countries. It would be a shame to see these cultural treasures demolished to make way for the next club or fitness suite.

Above is one of my favourites…the fire escape of a newly decorated apartment block running over the ruin of another site. Personally I would hate to walk on that!

The above two pictures are of buildings within a stones throw from each other. I love the Portuguese architecture. Notice how each building finishes at a different height, and has floors and windows in different places! I have no idea why, but I love how quirky it is! It’s almost as though they built each one individually. Makes me realise how regimented our house building generally is in Britain, with our terraces and identical box houses!

I hope that Portugal will hold onto some of its traits that makes it Portugal, in the waves of globalisation and westernisation. True, some of these things aren’t always practical (pushing a pram around on cobbles is not all that easy!) but I don’t want to visit in ten years time and find a sterilised concrete jungle. May they hold onto what is unique, and the world will stay a colourful place!