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Published: August 24th 2015
A compact people-oriented and inexpensive city of about 600,000 situated about a third of the way up Portugal’s coast, Lisbon has been its capital and most important seaport since 1147. Its history goes back before the Romans, and it has been occupied by a succession of conquerors, most notably the Moors, until it became the capital of the new independent nation. Eventually controlling an empire that stretched around the globe, Lisbon was once one of Europe’s most glittering capitals, but times changed. Until Portugal emerged in 1986 from a stultifying dictatorship to become a free democratic member of the European Community, much of the glitter faded away. Nevertheless it has always been a "classy" city, valuing its artistic and cultural heritage, with more than thirty museums and cultural centres, many world-class, and some quite unique.
Lisbon has known earthquakes, the worst being the “Great Quake” of 1755, when only the hilltop areas and a few historic buildings in the heart of the city escaped devastation, so most of what you see today is relatively new by European standards, but it certainly doesn’t lack interest. After the Quake one of the 18
th century’s most visionary urban planners, the Marqués de Pombal,
planned and supervised the reconstruction. In the low-lying area below its hills and stretching to the river he laid out the “Baixa” district, a rectangular grid on which small shops would be located, along with commemorative squares and a magnificent boulevard leading northward. It is within or near to this reconstructed area that most of the city’s administrative, cultural and historical artifacts are found today.
Venturing inland from the “Baixa” district, with its multitude of banks and small specialized shops and the adjoining ritzy Barrio Alto, you come to the Rossio and other squares, then the Avenida da Liberdade. This mile long (1.6 km) and 300 ft (90m) wide avenue was laid out more than a century ago along the general lines of Paris’ Champs Élysées. It boasts trees, fountains, monuments, cafes, banks, elegant shops, and high class office buildings, and stretches northward to Edward VII Park and Pombal’s monument.
This enormous monument, with an underground rotunda and walkway, was opened in 1934. The Marques de Pombal (1699-1782) was one of the most significant figures in Portugal’s history. An iron-fisted reformer, he abolished slavery, reorganized the armed forces, ended discrimination against non-Catholics, expelled the Jesuits, established a School
of Science at Coïmbra University, imposed quality control in agriculture, and regularized the taxation and legal systems. He also planned and executed the world’s first prefabricated town (Vila Real de Santo Antonio). He stands atop the monument with a lion, the symbol of power, gazing proudly over his masterpiece.
There are other parks, squares, recreation and leisure areas, museums and historic sites too numerous to mention. The enormous 1000 hectare Monsanto Forest Park in the western part of the city is a refuge of urban tranquillity, filled with pines, oaks and many other trees, and a small fort. Nearby are recreational sites, lookouts, restaurants, swimming pools, a campground, a children’s park, the stadium, Lisbon Zoo, Gulbenkian Museum and university.
To provide easy access to its higher levels, the Baixa has funicular tramways (something like San Francisco’s cable cars), and a unique all-metal elevator tower. The best known of the hilltop areas is the sprawling and convoluted Alfama on the east side. It is the site of both Moorish castle and Christian cathedral, the birthplace of Saint Anthony of Padua, the favorite haunt of sailors over the centuries, and the best place to enjoy fado music and traditional cuisine
today.
We’ll end with a brief glance at some of what remains after Expo 98, the last official international exposition of the 20
th century, which was held on Lisbon’s waterfront to the east of the downtown core.
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Rainyb
Lorraine Brecht
I loved that bridge too!