According to a statement from the public company Museus e Monumentos de Portugal (MMP), which manages the Belém Tower, “with each new phase of the works, which will take place over the next few months, the possibility of the Belém Tower being opened to the public will be assessed, always taking into account the safety of visitors and its workers”.

When questioned by Lusa, an official source from the public institute Cultural Heritage, the entity responsible for implementing the PRR in the heritage, explained that it is a conservation and restoration project for the Belém Tower awarded 1.05 million euros with an execution period of one year.

The Belém Tower is one of the most visited public monuments in Portugal, having received more than 377 thousand people in 2023.

Classified as a World Heritage Site since 1983 and built between 1514 and 1520, “its decoration displays the symbolism of Manueline architecture – calabres that surround the building, finishing it off with elegant knots, armillary spheres, crosses of the Military Order of Christ and naturalistic elements”, as can be read in the information available on the UNESCO National Commission website.

At the end of last year, the president of MMP expressed concern about the fact that several facilities supervised by the public company in Lisbon would be closed for works in 2025, coinciding with a tourist campaign focused on heritage.

The president of MMP highlighted, at the time, that “the outlook for the year is not very encouraging in relation to the equipment [under the company's jurisdiction]”, which is why they were “trying to outline communication strategies here that allows people to go to other places to try to address this issue”.