"Visitors will find a Belém Tower with a fresh face, shining inside and out," commented the monument's director, Margarida Donas Botto, to journalists during a visit before the inauguration.

The emblematic Manueline monument reopens to the public on Wednesday after approximately one million euros in renovations carried out as part of the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR).

The major novelty of the reopening, the director emphasised, is the introduction of a phased visitor access system, with a maximum of 60 entries every half hour, for a total of 900 per day.

“There has been a slight reduction in the number of visitors per day, largely due to public safety concerns and the preservation of this iconic monument,” explained the person in charge of the 16th-century tower located on the north bank of the Tagus River, originally used for military purposes.

Classified as a World Heritage Site by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) in 1983, the Belém Tower received more than 400,000 visitors annually before closing for renovations, a number expected to decrease with the new system.

“The tower is accessible by a spiral staircase that doesn't allow for many visitors at the same time. On the other hand, a recently restored monument cannot accommodate an excessive number of visitors,” she justified.

Regarding the likely reduction in revenue due to the entry limitations, Margarida Donas Botto assessed that “it will not be significant” and that “the possibility of offering visits at night is also being considered.”

When questioned by Lusa about the visitor profile, the director said that, “until the closure for renovations, they were mostly foreigners” of various nationalities: “We would like more Portuguese people to visit the Belém Tower, since they have easier access through the measure that gives residents in Portugal the possibility of entering national museums and monuments free of charge 52 times a year.”

The main reason for the change in access was the constant waiting lines: “It was painful to see visitors exposed to the sun and rain for a long time. Many of them waited, couldn't get in, and were very disappointed. With the new ‘slot’ system, the wait will be a maximum of about 20 minutes,” she estimated.

The main conservation and restoration interventions over a year of work aimed at “consolidating and cleaning the stone surfaces, and the remaining, more underground, are related to the consolidation of the monument, requalification and renovation of the window frames, as well as more advanced electrical solutions.”

“The Belém Tower has been restored to its original splendour,” emphasised Margarida Donas Botto, pointing out the characteristics of the Lioz stone, a limestone originating from Lisbon, with a very light colour, which, when clean, has a much brighter and more pleasant appearance for the visitor.”

The now-completed intervention represents the first major work carried out on the monument – ​​particularly exposed to the elements and atmospheric conditions near the Tagus River – since 1998.

From Wednesday onwards, the Belém Tower in Lisbon will be open to the public from 9.30 am to 5.30 pm, with the last entry at 5 pm. Tickets can be purchased online or in person at the Jerónimos Monastery ticket office.