Sicily and Portugal.

Facade of the monastery of Mafra.Facade of the monastery of Benedettini.

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• Built up in 1558, it is the greatest religious building in Europe with the monastery of Mafra in Estremadura. The intensely plastic facade is still unfinished, and is the greatest in Sicily. The church was built first, and, in 1598, the cloister. The monastery, destroyed by an earthquake, was subsequently reconstructed. The original plan was so huge that it remained incomplete for lack of financial means.

The Monastery of Mafra is the biggest in the Iberian peninsula. People can visit the basilica and the convent, the royal apartments, the library and the Museum of Sacred Art.The great baroque basilica elevates its monumental facade to the top of one great perron between two towers of 68 metres of height.

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External dome of the monastery of Benedettini.

External dome of the monastery of Mafra.

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Internal dome of the monastery of Benedettini. Internal dome of the monastery of Mafra.

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The dome 62m high by S.Ittar,is of remarkable interest;it was frescoed by Correggio between 1526 and 1530. The prospect, as it can be seen from the columns, remained unfinished; among the causes of the interruption of the work there were the difficulties of technical order and the serious economic problems.

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The dome,is made up of concave esedres and the columns pattern, that, in the “tamburo”,flank the windows, transforms it like echoing the cupolino.

Chiostro del monastero dei Benedettini Chiostro del monastero di Mafra

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Cloister of “Benedettini”Cloister of “Benedettini” Cloister of “Mafra”Cloister of “Mafra”

• The first cloister,made up of 52 marble columns and 12 statues, begun by Francisco Battaglia, with dynamic classic rhythm was completed in 1841.

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ORGAN OF THE MONASTERY OF Benedettini. Organ of monastery of Mafra.

• In the back of the church, we find the famous harmonic organ by the calabrian Donato Del Piano. It took 12 years of work.There are 72 registries, 5 organs of keyboards and 2916 canes. It was made in the second half of XVIII century.

Its 2 carillons and 6 organs form a

whole unique all over the world.

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Library of monastery of Benedettini.Library of monastery of Mafra.

• The huge library,situated in a long baroque gallery,is 86m long and

contains 40000 volumes.

• The library is characterized by baroque and containing 36,000 books that go back until XV

century.

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