Thursday, July 29, 2010

Restored Pillory


Downtown Oeiras
The City Hall building stands in the background
*
P.S. Pillory is the english word for the portuguese 'pelourinho'. It consists of a stone column where people were tied for public punishment and humiliation. You can see them at the main square of almost all old towns in Portugal (and Brazil). Despite the awful practice, some of them are truly beautiful stone works.
However if you look for the english definition of pillory you'll find: "a device formerly used for publicly punishing offenders consisting of a wooden frame with holes in which the head and hands can be locked".

25 comments:

Olivier said...

belle restauration, cela ressemble à une fontaine

B SQUARED said...

A pretty impressive City Hall.

brattcat said...

What a beautiful place Oeiras is.

Laurent said...

Well restored

Small City Scenes said...

Impressive and beautiful. MB

Sharon said...

A beautiful little monument. A good restoration job.

Birdman said...

I agree with Kitty. Beauty!

Sylvia K said...

Another wonderful look at your beautiful city! Love the monument, the City Hall and your blue skies! Terrific capture as always, JM! Enjoy your weekend!

Sylvia

magiceye said...

wonderful work!

Lowell said...

A fine composition with great colors and light. Pastels are used a lot in Boca Raton, Florida...of which this shot reminds me.

Halcyon said...

Isn't the pillory where they used to hang people or something? Maybe I have that confused. :)

It looks like a wonderful restoration. I love the white contrasted with the blue sky.

Dina said...

So graceful in its embellishment.

Unknown said...

@Halcyon (and everyone else):

The english definition for pillory is: "a device formerly used for publicly punishing offenders consisting of a wooden frame with holes in which the head and hands can be locked", but pillory is also the translation of the portuguese word 'pelourinho' that consists of a stone column where people were tied for public punishment and humiliation. You can find them at the main square of almost all old towns in Portugal (and Brazil). Despite the awful practice, some of them are truly beautiful stone works.

Dina said...

Thanks for the lesson, JM.
Well, I guess if you are going to be tied up and punished, it might as well be a a beautiful post. sigh ...

Serline said...

I shudder to think something so stately had such an evil purpose...

Pooch Purple Reign said...

yes, still beautiful despite their dark history
~laura
ps nice blog here too:)

VP said...

I'm not so sure some guys could use some of this treatment even today... Anyway the pillory is really magnificent and, gladly, well kept!

joo said...

You can also find them here - in Polish they are called 'pręgierz' (impossible to pronounce for foreignes, I'm afraid!).
The one in your place is beautiful against such a blue sky!

crocrodyl said...

Beautiful place! Great shot!

Jim said...

What a back story. Great shot.
Sydney - City and Suburbs

T. Becque said...

Wow, brutal history to such a pretty scene.

gogouci said...

Great shot. Nicely framed with the rooftop decor in the background. Nice proportions.

Gunn said...

Nice work, - and beautiful BLUE sky!
Send some SUNSHINE further north.
Please hurry up..... RAIN...rain....rain today!:(

Hilda said...

Awful history for such a beautiful pillar. Hard to imagine with those magnificent trees and flowering bushes.

Joan Elizabeth said...

Amazing that such beautiful work was put into a piece with such a horrid purpose.