Travels in Spain and Portugal before Covid: Lisbon Day 20

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November 8, 2019

Today was our second, and last day in Lisbon. I woke early to be able to photograph the city and learn more about its history. Yesterday’s long day of touring made Dave too tired to join me in the three hour morning walking tour of Lisbon. Fellow passengers Rosemary and Dick, who ironically live less than five miles from our home, were going to accompany me on this tour, also decided they were too worn out. No problem, I left the ship alone at 9:30am to find a tuk tuk (a three seated, covered motorbike-taxi) to take me to Rossio Square at the Dom Pedro IV statue where at 10am, I met Ricardo, today’s tour guide from Viator. We were a friendly, small group of eight who were assembled and eager to learn more about the history of Lisbon, capital of Portugal, located on the westernmost front of Continental Europe and one of the oldest cities in the world, second oldest European capital city after Athens!

Rossio Square is the liveliest square in Lisbon and a popular meeting place in the Baixa (downtown) District where locals and tourists alike often gather at nearby cafes. Like many other squares in Lisbon, it is graced with cobblestones in dizzying wave patterns reminding us this city was made rich from the sea. The main feature of the square is the towering monument to Dom Pedro IV, the soldier-king, and liberator, who was King of Portugal in 1826 (House of Braganza). At the base of the monument sits four marble allegorical female figures representing Justice, Wisdom, Strength and Constraint, qualities attributed to Dom Pedro IV.

Ricardo proceeded to rapidly explain the history of Lisbon in painfully encyclopedic detail. Although he was very nice and willing to answer questions I could only get a second between breaths to interject with a comment or question. Note taking soon became impossible but I did my best to decipher, type fast into my iPhone and still take photographs on the tour.

Here is what I could get from Ricardo, a brief history of Lisbon: In 219 BC the Romans (bringing red wine to the region) entered the Iberian peninsula and in 205 BC, after winning the Second Punic War against the Carthaginians, occupied Olissipo, the city known now as Lisbon. In 711 the Islamic Moors invaded the Christian Iberian Peninsula, conquering Lisbon in 714. Lisbon became a Muslim city that was ruled by the Moors for 425 years. During their occupation, Lisbon became a major commercial center, trading goods with people from the Arabic Mediterranean. Protective walls were built, along with the Sao Jorge Castle as a fortification.

Surprisingly most of the conquered Roman Christians adopted the Arabic language and the Islamic religion. The Jewish community, which had been here since the city’s earliest days, grew more influential as they established themselves as successful merchants, traders, doctors and scholars. The slaves from Eastern Europe served as mercenaries, joining the population and ultimately acquiring a prominent position in society. Jews and Christians lived separate from the Muslims but were allowed to practice their religions. The Moors also welcomed expatriated Genoese, Venetians, Dutch and English peoples. Lisbon became a cultural and religious melting pot.

Then came the Crusades: The Crusaders arrived in the 12th century and in 1255 conquered Lisbon making it the Christian capital of Portugal. The old Sao Jorge Castle built by the Visigoths was converted into a royal palace. (The castle is currently unoccupied but has a lovely park where some would argue, the best view of Lisbon).

Following the banishment of the Jews from Castile and Aragon in 1492, thousands more Jews had sought refuge in the neighboring Kingdom of Portugal. Initially King Manual I was more tolerant toward the Jewish community. The Jewish people had been attracted to Lisbon for their expertise in business, but soon the Jews found they would be forced to become Christians. These Jewish newcomers to Christianity were called New Christians. In 1536 the Inquisition came, sowing death for 235 years, but more on that in a bit.

We began our tour of Lisbon in front of the Sao Domingos de Lisboa Convent and Ricardo began the church’s sad story of oppression and destruction. Dating from the 13th century, St Dominic’s Church had been the site of important religious ceremonies, royal weddings and christenings as well as royal and state funerals. At one time it was the largest church in Lisbon, famous for its “magnificent twelve chapels, splendid decorations, rich liturgical implements and elaborate vests”.

Ricardo pointed to a Jewish star, a monument in the square in front of the church. The monument was erected in memory of the Jewish massacre of 1506, also known as the Lisbon pogrom or the 1506 Easter Slaughter. He began to relate the sad story of that tragic Easter Sunday. As worshipers prayed for relief of droughts and plagues inside the church, shafts of sunlight came through the window. Someone claimed they saw the face of Jesus at the very moment of prayer and it was proclaimed a miracle. A converted Jew, or New Christian, who was also inside praying, became the classic doubting Thomas and said that it was not a miracle. The crowd of Catholics became enraged and the crowd swelled to include the foreign sailors who were anchored in the River Tagus. They persecuted, tortured and killed the Jew, and between 1,000 to 4,000 more who were New Christians or accused of being Jews (and therefore guilty by association) were persecuted, tortured and burned at the stake. From then on any Jew became the scapegoat for droughts, famine or disease. This took place thirty years before the Portuguese Inquisition was established.

In 1536 the Inquisition was formally introduced into Portugal, and Sao Domingos church became the home of the Portuguese Inquisition. The main target of the Portuguese Inquisition were New Christians who were suspected of secretly practicing Judaism. Many of these were Spanish Jews who had left Spain for Portugal. It is estimated that there were as many as 40,000 of these poor souls. The Jews were not the only ones to suffer, Jesuit missionary Gabriel Malagrida was famously executed at the church in 1761 after being accused of treason. Nearby Rossio Square became the plaza for the Inquisitions’ public executions.

There are banners and monuments in front of this church apologizing for this massacre and proclaiming religious tolerance from then on. Written inside the monument with a Jewish star are these words: “In memory of the thousands of Jews who were victimized by intolerance and religious fanaticism, killed on the massacre that started on 19 April 1506, on this square". The base has a verse from the Book of Job etched onto it: ‘O earth, cover not thou my blood, and let my cry have no place.’ ” Now Portugal celebrates freedom of religion with tributes to people of all religions.

As if that sad and unsavory history were not all, the church was damaged in the earthquake of 1531. Then on 1755, the All Saints’ Day earthquake and resultant fires devastated the area with the loss of many structures and the death of thousands of inhabitants. Two thirds of the city was flattened followed by a massive tsunami. Sao Domingos church was almost completely destroyed. Remodeling began soon after but it wasn’t finished until 1807. In 1870 the church suffered more fires but the final blow was in 1959 when the church was devastated once more after a fire broke out in the building killing two firefighters and taking more than six hours to extinguish the flames that completely gutted the church. The scarred pillars and charred remnants inside were left as a reminder of that tragedy. Sao Domingos church is one of the few buildings to survive the disaster of the All Saints’ Day earthquake.

Reconstruction and Recovery:

Prime Minister Marquis de Pombal led Lisbon out of disaster rebuilding the Baixa, or lower town, on an earthquake-proof grid plan. The post 1755 building designs with their uniform, straight and undecorated lines gave a militaristic feel to the new buildings referred to as ‘Pombaline’. A faster recovery was possible because of the anti seismic construction and the militaristic portable construction techniques. Thankfully Pombal allowed the decoration of wrought iron balconies and street lamps as well as colorfully tiled walls giving Lisbon its unique cultural appeal. This safer, and portable style of architecture later became a trademark for Portuguese expansion.

The decorations allowed also included sidewalks and streets that were covered in a mosaic of contrasting tiles, referred to as Portuguese Pavement, said to originate at Saint George Castle. These decorative tiles visually connect sections of Lisbon and create a uniform look to the city. The tile’s designs were relegated to the book of 19th century traditional designs maintaining the historic aspect of the city. The installation and repair of the street tiles is backbreaking work and tradespeople specializing in this art are sadly becoming few and far between.

We stopped at the small door to the A Ginjinha Registada shop, the original Lisbon bar selling Ginjiha, a popular Lisbon liquor made with Ginjiha sour cherries. Its base is 23%!d(MISSING)istilled alcohol and is sweetened with copious quantities of sugar. Ricardo told us the liquors are supposed to be like medicine (right). Good for what ails you. While we each took a free shot of this tangy liquor (with or without an alcohol-laden cherry), several others on this tour said they were having difficulty following the rapid regurgitation of history and, nice though Ricardo was, we wished he would slow down and offer more personal, anecdotal information as well as historical. The suggestion helped, but not much.

After our shots of Ginjiha we walked to the Rossio Train Station with its unique horseshoe entrance, and climbed up to the 2nd level for a good view of St George’s Castle and the bright red clay-tiled rooftops of Lisbon. We continued on to the roofless remains of the gothic Carmo Convent, once home to the Carmelite nuns, This convent and church was also destroyed by the 1755 All Saints’ Day earthquake. The ghostly skeleton of what once held the religious worshipers was a haunting sight. The church had been filled with worshipers attending a holy day mass. All were crushed in the collapse of the structure. When the lower middle class prayed for the dead they too lost their lives in the second wave. The skeletal ruins were left as a sad historical reminder of the tragic loss of life.

From the Carmo Convent we made our way to the wrought iron, filagreed Santa Justa Lift, inspired by the Eiffel Tower. This lift was built to connect the Bairro Alto or high town (Upper District), with Baixa or the Lower Town in the Chiado District below. As we walked below the lift on Rua do Carmo, I looked up to photograph the walkway connecting the Carmo Convent to the Santa Justa Lift. Rua do Carmo was already decked out with Christmas lights but they would not be turned on until after Thanksgiving, leaving me to wonder what the holidays in Lisbon would look like.

Having traveled in circles walking all around the Baixa District, Ricardo took us to Casa Brasileira on Rua Augusta for a Pastel de Nata, my third taste of Lisbon’s famous treat. Sugar seems to be the main source of fuel here and these little egg custard tarts filled the bill. But I will say that comparing this one with the other two, the Pasteis de Belem, the pasteis de nada at Manteigaria in Luis de Camoes Square and this little treat, my favorite was definitely Manteigaria’s because it was not too sweet, not burned and fresh from the oven. Delightful.

On our way to Alfama we stopped in front of the Museum of the Portuguese Royal Guard of the Police, created in 1801 as a model of the French Gendarmerie. In 1834, as a result of the civil War, King Pedro IV disbanded the Royal Police Guard and created the Municipal Guards of Lisbon and Porto. By 1868 both of the Guards were put under a unified Comandant-General in the Carmo Barracks in Lisbon, which today is the Headquarters of the GNR or Guarda Nacional Repulicana. We walked by the entrance that had a serious looking uniformed sentry standing, sword in hand in his green and white guard house. Ricardo said we were not to enter or go anywhere near this place. It was clearly serious business (I think).

We wound our way down through what Ricardo referred to as the ‘Castle District’ on our way down to the old Moorish quarter of Alfama. The Alfama is the oldest and quaintest quarter of Lisbon. Beginning with the Visigoth times, the maze of streets encompass St George’s Castle that sits on top of the highest hill in the city, south to the Church of Sao Vincente de Fora and the Tagus River.

The Arabic Village of Alfama is a jumble of white washed buildings that are woven together so tightly on the steep hills that passageways usually consist of meandering stairs, often quite steep. The Arabs who settled here did not have a development plan, they simply built homes packed on steep winding alleys as they were needed, resulting in a tangled maze. The more the lanes became the tangled, the better it was for defense.

During the middle ages Alfama became the Jewish district until the Insurrection in 1594 when they were evicted from Portugal. Then this area became the home for sailors and fishermen. Later, palaces were built but they were destroyed by earthquakes leaving the area for the poor. Today Alfama is home to the working class in Lisbon. The homes are small so the street becomes the extended living space for residents making this an interesting and lively place to visit. Ricardo said that residents often hang out of their windows to ‘watch what was going on in the neighborhood’. These observers from windows are referred to as the “Portuguese surveillance “

With no additional real estate to build on, in order to expand, some of the older houses in Alfama were added on above the first level, a little wider than the narrow footprint of the foundation, giving more space to the narrow spot allotted to them. The oldest houses date back to the 16th century and were surrounded by medieval walls that divided neighborhoods by sections: the Christian section, the Jewish section and the Muslim section. After the protective city walls were destroyed and there was no more separation by religion, people of different religious and cultural backgrounds moved about setting up homes throughout the city.

When the Moors were established here they introduced many of their crafts. One important form of art introduced a painted or enameled terra-cotta tile called assulleig or aul, both of which describe the blue which is the predominant color of the tiles we see throughout Lisbon today. Lisbon was also the main port of arrival in Europe for the Chinese porcelains that were highly prized throughout Europe. King Manuel I and the people of Lisbon were influenced by this new porcelain artistry and began incorporating some of the azulejo blue and white motifs in their own designs.

I was glad that Ricardo was leading the way since I became totally turned around. Somehow we ended up at the beautiful Miradouro de Santa Luzia. The simple Santa Luzia Church from the 1600s is attached to a romantic bougainvillea draped pergola, one of the many ‘miradouros’ with spectacular views. From this vantage point we could look down over Almafa’s domes and clay rooftops that descend towards the river. The exterior walls of the church are decorated in historic azulejo murals. One of the blue tiles depicts Comercio Square before the earthquake, another tells the story of a battle scene showing the Christians attacking St George’s Castle in 1147.

As we wound further down into the snaking cobbled alleys of Alfama, Ricardo reminded us that he would provide some wine and a typical snack at a neighborhood tavern. We were warmly greeted at the Sociedade Boa-Uniao, a social club that featured Fado in the evenings but sadly for us, not now. We piled into the large, dark and empty room filled with tables and a long bar (we were the only guests). I had hoped for a taste of Portugal’s traditional bacalhau (salted cod), the Portuguese national dish. The history of bacalhau can be traced back to the 14th century during the era of exploration. Cod fish have very low levels of oils, making them easier to dry and preserve. The cod were salted and dried and once dried, the fish became as hard as a stick allowing them to be stacked and kept in the ships’ holds literally for years. Fresh supplies were also obtained during the ocean voyages. To eat the fish you need to soak it for about 36 hours, changing the water frequently before cooking the fish. This is what is served in the restaurants in Lisbon, Ricardo said. He told us there are 365 ways of cooking this fish, but apparently not here.

We were offered red, white or green wine to accompany our little snack of slices of cheese, sausage, ham and bread, sadly no cod. I chose the Green wine which was described as being a little bitter made from young green grapes that made it self-fermented. This wine was delightful and reminded me of an Italian Prosecco. Ricardo told us it came from northern Portugal and was a typical refreshing summer drink. I thought it was quite good and tried to buy a bottle (10 euro) but they didn’t take credit cards and with little cash left I decided to pass. Waving and getting a fond farewell hug from Ricardo, I left the tour to look for authentic artisans in the old section of Alfama.

As I began to wander the Alfama by myself, I got deliciously lost in the maze of streets and alleys. Around a bend I stumbled upon a humble white church facade with a gate. There was a tiny official looking plaque written in the Portuguese language near the door. Lower, next to the gate at the base of the steps, I saw a painted yellow arrow pointing to the right. But to where? Much to my surprise I discovered that I had come across the beginning of the route of the pilgrimage of St James! Many believe the official start of the Camino Portugués in Lisbon is the Cathedral of Lisbon. It is not. I learned that the true start is at the little Church of Santiago, or the Igreja de Santiago as it is known in Portuguese. It turns out that The Way continues down the Rua de Santiago from Alfama to the cathedral (where you can get your official stamp) and travels along the Tagus River heading north to Porto, Portugal and finally ends at the Santiago de Compostela in Spain. This sweet little church was originally built in the 1100's, but was rebuilt several more times after numerous earthquakes. According to legend, Christopher Columbus and his wife were married here in 1479! The plaque says the official route is 610 kilometers. I think if I had the time and energy, this would be the route I would want to travel.

Moving along I soon met Elisabete Silva, a lovely woman who is a ceramic artist in her studio Calcadinha da Figueira Ceramica de Alfama. After spending some time talking about her craft, I purchased a small hand painted square tile of a singing bird copied from an 18th century blue and white tile which her sister hand painted. I also bought a small colorful hand painted plate with a motif of 16th century Moorish influence that she painted. Exactly what I was looking for.

Meandering through the maze of stairways and cobbled paths, I walked by the Fado Museum, Portugal’s nostalgic longing (saudade), mournful and bluesy songs about lost sailors, and broken hearts that reminded me of the sad flamenco songs in Spain but unlike fado, flamenco is always accompanied by dance. Unfortunately we were not in Lisbon long enough to hear any fado music, another ‘next time’.

Further on I found Patria Rustica a small shop that carried a wide variety of crafts and typical products from Portugal (not China). I spent another half hour chatting with this lovely shop owner and tasting ginjinha, the cherry liquor referred to as ‘medicinal’. She poured the liquor into a chocolate cup, what could go wrong with chocolate and cherries? It was delicious so yes, I bought a bottle with the accompanying chocolate cups to take home. I also bought a well crafted towel and a handmade bowl with green, blue, yellow and orange designs that will happily grace my table. A hand painted tile set in cork and some other small items went into a classically designed Portuguese bag and I was off to the ship before it departed.

Leaving thoughts:

In 1497 Vasco da Gama prayed for a safe voyage as he and his fast caravel, the perfect ship for exploring and trading, together with his navigational tools like the astrolabe to navigate by the stars, conquered lands and made Lisbon a wealthy maritime city during the Great Age of Discovery. These successful voyages eclipsed the success of Italy and made Portugal one of the most powerful countries in the world, opening up new trade routes to Asia and discovering and ruling Brazil with large colonies also in Africa, India and Macau. Lisbon quickly became one of Europe’s richest cities. Vasco da Gama is buried in the Jeronamos Monastery built by King Manuel I, site of a former church that was frequented by da Gama and his sailors praying for a good and successful voyage.

At 4pm our ship slipped out of its dock I began to photograph what I could of Lisbon. We passed the spires of the Convent and Church of Sao Vincente of Fora and I wished I had been able to see the museum of Portuguese culture inside and the final burial place of the Braganza monarchs of Portugal.

As we sailed out of Lisbon on the Tagus River, we passed the Belem Tower, the last sight sailors saw when they left Lisbon for the New World, and like so many explorers and fishermen before, who sailed into the Atlantic, and for them, the unknown. Our travels across the Atlantic will be well charted, unlike those of early explorers who made navigation possible for eventual travelers like us. I am grateful for the experience and the comfort that we are allowed on this transatlantic voyage, centuries after the voyages of these incredible explorers.

It was quite windy and yet we clung to the rails, sad to leave this beautiful city. As the city was nearly out of sight, we retired inside looking like tired drunken sailors, trying to regain our sea legs, for the ship was tossed about in the very choppy and windy seas. It was time for dinner and to catch up with our friends on the day’s adventures.

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