2 euro Portugal 2013, 250th Anniversary of the Clérigos Tower, Porto

2 Euro Commemorative Coins Portugal 2013, 250th Anniversary of the Clérigos Tower, Porto





€2 commemorative coins - Portugal 2013, The 250th anniversary of the construction of "Torre dos Clérigos", Porto. 

Commemorative 2 euro coins from Portugal

Description: The tower is depicted as it can be seen by the people on the street when standing close to it, side by side with the typical Oporto skyline as seen from Douro River south bank.



Reverse: left from the coin centre face value: 2, on the right inscription: EURO; in the background of the inscription a map of Europe; in the background of the map vertically six parallel lines ending on both sides with five-pointed stars (the reverse is common for all euro coins)

Issuing volume:  525,000 coins
Date of issue: 20 June 2013
Face value:       2 euro
Diameter:         25.75 mm
Thickness:        2.2 mm
Weight:            8.5 gr
Composition: BiAlloy (Nk/Ng), ring Cupronickel (75% copper - 25% nickel clad on nickel core), center Nickel brass

Clérigos Church - Igreja dos Clérigos
The Clérigos Church (Portuguese: Igreja dos Clérigos; "Church of the Clergymen") is a Baroque church in the city of Porto, in Portugal. Its tall bell tower, the Torre dos Clérigos, can be seen from various points of the city and is one of its most characteristic symbols.

The church was built for the Brotherhood of the Clérigos (Clergy) by Nicolau Nasoni, an Italian architect and painter who left an extense work in the north of Portugal during the 18th century.
Construction of the church began in 1732 and was finished around 1750, while the monumental divided stairway in front of the church was completed in the 1750s. The main façade of the church is heavily decorated with baroque motifs (such as garlands and shells) and an indented broken pediment. This was based on an early 17th-century Roman scheme. The central frieze above the windows present symbols of worship and an incense boat. The lateral façades reveal the almost elliptic floorplan of the church nave.
The Clérigos Church was one of the first baroque churches in Portugal to adopt a typical baroque elliptic floorplan. The altarpiece of the main chapel, made of polychromed marble, was executed by Manuel dos Santos Porto.
The monumental tower of the church, located at the back of the building, was only built between 1754 and 1763. The baroque decoration here also shows influence from the Roman Baroque, while the whole design was inspired by Tuscan campaniles. The tower is 75.6 metres high, dominating the city. There are 240 steps to be climbed to reach the top of its six floors. This great structure has become the symbol of the city.
In Porto, Nicolau Nasoni was also responsible for the construction of the Misericórida Church, the Archbishop's Palace and the lateral loggia of Porto Cathedral. He entered the Clérigos Brotherhood and was buried, at his request, in the crypt of the Clérigos Church.

Porto
Porto (occasionally also known as Oporto in English) is the second-largest city in Portugal, after Lisbon, as well as one of the major urban areas in Southern Europe and the capital of the second major great urban area in Portugal. The urban area of Porto, which extends beyond the administrative limits of the city, has a population of 0.7 million (2011) in an area of 189 km2 (73 sq mi), making it the second-largest urban area in Portugal. The Porto Metropolitan Area includes an estimated 1,4 million people. It is recognized as a Gamma-level global city by the Globalization and World Cities (GaWC) Study Group, being one of five cities on the Iberian Peninsula with global city status, the others being Madrid, Barcelona, Lisbon and Valencia.
Located along the Douro river estuary in northern Portugal, Porto is one of the oldest European centres, and registered as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1996. Its settlement dates back many centuries, when it was an outpost of the Roman Empire. Its Latin name, Portus Cale, has been referred to as the origin for the name "Portugal", based on transliteration and oral evolution from Latin. In Portuguese the name of the city is spelled with a definite article as o Porto (English: “the port”). Consequently, its English name evolved from a misinterpretation of the oral pronunciation and referred to as Oporto in modern literature and by many speakers.
One of Portugal's internationally famous exports, port wine, is named for Porto, since the metropolitan area, and in particular the adegas of Vila Nova de Gaia, were responsible for the production and export of the fortified wine. The Porto region is also a major producer of cork.