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Published: December 4th 2007
Alfama's Roofline
... and the Panteâo Nacional beyondAfter a short flight from Madrid late yesterday afternoon and some needed rest overnight, my objective was to start exploring in earnest the most prominent sites in Lisbon today. Because the first time in a new city is usually slower than when one is on familiar turf, I tried to secure additional navigational information from the hotel's concierge to have a more precise idea how to get around and not to waste time getting lost. The concierge gave me great advice and also an information package from Carris, the largest local transportation company in Lisbon that runs the Metro system, the city trams, and the buses.
My hotel, located near the Campo Pequeno bullfight venue, turned out to be very convenient for access to the Metro Yellow Line. I headed out by metro directly for the Baixa district where I intended to catch tram 28E (a real institution among tourists in Lisbon) to go to the Alfama neighborhood and to its most famous landmark, the Castle of Sâo Jorge. Knowing where to get off in the metro system was not a problem, the train’s next stop is constantly announced (both verbally and via LED boards within the train compartments) and
upon arriving at any station, the station’s name is prominently marked with signs everywhere. Once you are riding the trams or small buses though, you are on your own to know where you are and when to get off. This practice (or lack thereof) proved to be a problem on my first tram ride in Lisbon because before I knew it, I was at the tram’s terminus, after having failed to get off at the station convenient to the castle.
Trying to make the best out of the situation, I decided to look for something interesting to see around the point where the tram dropped all of its passengers (wherever that was, since at first it was not clear to me at all). I snapped some images of nearby picturesque narrow streets and then walked up to a covered bus or tram stop that was around the corner from where the 28E tram had ended its route. A small sign there had the name of the place: “Graça”. This information was all I needed to cross-reference on the Carris package, which indicated that this stop was near the “Miradouro da Graça”, a great vantage point to enjoy a panoramic
view of Lisbon. Using the best “Portuñol” that I could muster (Portuguese and Spanish Languages are so close to each other that it is possible for two people speaking each one of these two languages to communicate with each other), I asked an older gentleman sitting on a bench where the miradouro was and thanks to his instructions, I arrived there just three or so minutes later. The place had already a fair number of tourists enjoying the sights and taking their own pictures with Lisbon as their background. A few of them were perhaps more serious photographers and like me, were just making the landscape the main subject.
When I had exhausted the possibilities at Graça, I walked back to the bus stop where I had located the name of the area. This stop was oriented opposite to the direction followed by the tram that brought me there, so in all likelihood, that was the right spot to catch a tram to retrace the route and reach the Castle’s area. My guess was correct and within minutes I was on my way there.
The “Miradouro Sta. Luzia” was the stop closest to the castle, but it also
featured a great panoramic view of Lisbon, I spent a few minutes there prior to starting my walk up hill in the general direction where the castle needed to be. Though this area of Lisbon is a true maze of very narrow and winding streets (its buildings blocking most of the view of what lays ahead), the castle is so large that there is no way to miss it if you just walk up (northwest) from Sta. Luzia. In no time, I reached the main gate and the small building housing the ticket counter for entry into the monument. When I arrived, the queue extended outside of the building, but it was moving at a reasonable pace.
The Castelo de Sâo Jorge dates back to the V Century AD, when Visigoths built fortifications in the site. Four hundred years later, the Moors took over and expanded the fortifications to surround their fortress (or Kasbah, as they called it). When Afonso Henriques (first king of Portugal) defeated the Moors in 1147, he made additional modifications and built a royal palace on the site, which survived as such until the XVI Century. When Vasco da Gama returned from a successful expedition
to India in 1499, he came to the Castelo for a royal audience with Manuel I. The place where this meeting took place (Olisipónia) houses today a multimedia presentation about the history of Lisbon.
The castle with its own miradouro offers yet another opportunity for breathtaking views of the entire city, but the most picturesque sight is that of the Alfama district just below and around the castle. The Alfama’s multicolored houses originally built by the Moors seem to compete for whatever vertical dimension they can reach.
I wondered leisurely around the grounds and ruins of what used to be the royal palace within the fortified walls. When I reached the end of the stretch that now includes a fancy restaurant, I retraced my steps to follow a perpendicular path along the redoubt or main fortress’ south wall. At the center point of this wall’s length, there is a stone bridge that leads to the redoubts’ main gate. Though there is no longer any roofed structure inside besides some of the towers, the redoubt was clearly a very practical defensive structure whose purpose was military (unlike the more aesthetic
Manzanares El Real castle near Madrid that I visited earlier in the
From Sâo Jorge
... and a clue that this was really a defensive installation.. week).
The visit to the redoubt was at two levels: at ground level the visitor can now appreciate the remains of some early structures that were covered by more recent fortifications. At least at two different locations within this fortress, it is possible to climb onto an upper level where narrow passageways follow the inside contour of the highest defensive walls and gives access to many of its towers. During my visit to the fortress, there was a sense of timelessness in the air thanks to an itinerant flute player who kept playing medieval-style music (actually, most of the music was from Manheim Steamroller’s albums, but very enjoyable given the setting)
When I finally left Castelo de Sâo Jorge, I walked back to Miradouro de Sta. Luzia following a similar path to the one I used in the morning in my way up. I saw many small outdoor restaurants and cafes along the way and in spite of the rather cloudy day, many people were sitting at tables having light meals and soaking the atmosphere in. From Sta. Luzia, I took tram 28E back to the Baxia area, which I found far busier than it was earlier in
the morning.
The Baxia area used to be a place where artisans lived and worked. When in 1755 a major earthquake destroyed most of it, the Marquês de Pombal had it rebuilt expediently on a North-to-South, East-to-West grid. Rua Augusta is located at the center of this grid in the North-to-South direction and parallel to roads named after the trade of the artisans who lived and worked there.
From Praça do Comércio, a major open square within Baixa, I followed Rua Augusta towards the North. This pedestrian street is a favorite hang out for many people in Lisbon because of its many shops and outdoor cafes. I continued walking North up to the Restauradores area and Avenida Liberdade. I was particularly interested on reaching Avenida Liberdade because I discovered that the local Hard Rock Café was located on that avenue; being on a new city, I needed to purchase the mandatory Lisbon guitar pin for my better half’s collection. Finding the store was not a problem, but they were out of guitar pins and were not expecting to have any in stock until Thursday morning. At least, I now know exactly where the store is and can return
to the place easily.
I noticed on my city map, that I was very close to Bairro Alto and decided to explore that area next. As I crossed to the other side of Avenida Liberdade, I walked North searching for a cross street that would take me West. As I was doing that, I stumbled upon the lower terminus of Funicular Glória and one of these odd-looking vehicles was ready to depart. I boarded it and very soon the vehicle reached its upper terminus. A major vantage point in this area, Miradouro S. Pedro Alcântara, was totally fenced off for renovations. A bit disappointed, I continued northwest on Rua D. Pedro V, trying to find another vantage point, but I did not find anything offering an unobstructed view towards the East. I retraced my steps exploring the other side of Rua D. Pedro V, but after some time, I decided to retrace my steps all the way back to the Alfama Neighborhood and spend the rest of the rapidly vanishing daylight there. Bairro Alto may look a bit rough, but it was still worth the visit.
That evening, I had a light dinner with a sample of the
Flute Player's Cat
... and keeper of the revenue local brew at one of the restaurants just south from the Castelo de Sâo Jorge enjoying yet another expansive view over the city lights below.
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non-member comment
there are not so many people on the bus as that in beijing. the buildings are so amazing. lucky you be there