If you're traveling to Portugal, you absolutely must make a stop in Mafra. The palace is one of the largest Baroque palaces in Europe. It houses an enormous library with over 40,000 books, primarily from the 17th and 18th centuries. The basilica boasts no fewer than six (6!) organs that can be played together, there are museums, and in the towers there are two carillons—one of which is unplayable and the other one of the finest Baroque carillons, if not THE finest in Europe. Off to Mafra!

UNESCO Shows Interest

During the three-yearly congress of the World Carillon Federation (WCF), the initiative was taken to cast a peace bell. In these difficult times when major wars loom, a musical beacon of hope. UN Secretary-General António Guterres honored the congress with a meaningful foreword in the exhibition catalog, which was also organized during the congress.

The congress was opened by Abel Chaves, carillonneur of Mafra and congress director, by Koen Van Assche, chairman of the WCF, and Mayor Hugo Manuel Moreira Luís of Mafra, who together with the palace director Sérgio Gorjão welcomed the international guests and ceremonially cut the ribbon. After the customary words of appreciation, cooperation, and the importance of the carillon in the past–present–future, the special exhibition was opened. A highly educational and comprehensive presentation that not only teaches about the remarkable fact that two carillons ended up in a Portuguese palace, but also what a carillon is, what the instrument has stood for over the centuries, and what it can still mean today.

The catalog became a substantial scholarly tome, published in both Portuguese and English. This book can immediately be called a standard work on the carillon and it would be beneficial to include it in the curricula of the few carillon training programs in the world. Intensive, serious, and particularly thorough historical and scientific research preceded the exhibition and the book. Note that the exhibition can be visited until mid-April 2027. After that, it will likely and hopefully, with certainty, become a permanent part of the palace's collection, which besides the famous library also houses museums.

Peace Bell

Carillonneur and congress director Abel Chaves liked the idea of having a bell cast on site on the opening day of the congress—a Peace Bell no less. The casting of the bell would be framed with music played on bells and with dance, a dance depicting the fire around and the melting of the bronze. All of this in the open air because in Portugal summers are warm and it rarely rains. Rain fortunately didn't fall, it was only warm near the fire. University students played inverted standing bells, little bells jingled, and dancers in flowing garments sometimes made you look away a bit too much from the ongoing casting process of the Peace Bell. It's impressive to witness that this is no simple day's work. It requires utmost attention, precision, and a steady nerve. But what if you're a worker in a bell foundry? That's a whole different ball game than working on a specially prepared flattened pyramid-shaped sand mold with a temporarily built smelting furnace in a confined space, under the watchful eye of dozens of cameras big and small, attended by the political leaders of the municipality and all those foreign guests.

The accident happened; the lifted ton of molten bronze slipped from the tongs and crashed onto the sand. The hot liquid bronze splashed down like water in all directions onto the sand floor. Fortunately no one was injured, but everyone was confronted with the harsh reality: casting a bell is no child's play and is always (!) risky. There have been casting failures in several bell foundries in the past. Not really many, but still. And so it's actually good (well, sort of) that this happened, precisely to raise awareness of the dangers inherent in the craft. Of course, an "Oooohhhh!" went through the air from all present. What now? Well, they had anyway taken precautions against possible mishaps like rain that could spoil everything, a technical error in the casting process, or something else. The real Peace Bell had already been cast and would be shown and sounded in all its brilliance and glory on the last evening of the congress. Oh yes, a very beautiful bell with a warm, round, creamy, full tone, not shrill at all. A bell cast with love for the craft, for the carillon, for Peace. Hopefully it may ring often without having to celebrate the end of yet another war. Peace for peace's sake, as a festive bell. Oh yes.

Peace Bell, Palace Mafra, Portugal