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Capital: Lisbon
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Following its heyday as a world power during the 15th and 16th centuries, Portugal lost much of its wealth and status with the destruction of Lisbon in a 1755 earthquake, occupation during the Napoleonic Wars, and the independence in 1822 of Brazil as a colony. A 1910 revolution deposed the monarchy; for most of the next six decades, repressive governments ran the country. In 1974, a left-wing military coup installed broad democratic reforms. The following year, Portugal granted independence to all of its African colonies. Portugal is a founding member of NATO and entered the EC (now the EU) in 1986. |
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View of the heart of Lisbon before landing. I had been in Lisbon breifly in 1962 and 1979 but this time I planned to visit my internet friend Miguel and to stay long enough to become familiar with the city.
Praça Don Pedro IV more generally known as Praça Rossio is the centre of downtown Lisbon.
It is the Rossio train station that gave its name to this part of town and to the nearby square.
Here are rua 1 de Dezembro next to the Rossio station with the Americano Hotel where I found adequate lodgings in a friendly atmosphere for only 25 $US with breakfast.
Adjacent to Rossio is Praça Figueira at the foot of Castelo de São Jorge on top of the hill dominating the Alfama district. You can see the fortifications on the right.
The Santa Justa elevator, next to Rossio to the south, gives easy access uphill to the Chiado area and the Convento de Carma archaeological museum.
Going up the Santa Justa elevator is worth while just for the tremendous view of central Lisbon even if you have no intention of going to Chiado. This panorama opens with the ruins of Convento de Parma and pans to the right over Praça Rossio, Praça Figueira and Castelo São Jorge to Praça Comercio (with the big Christmas tree), on the waterfront at the end of rua de Ouro before returning to the convent museum.
Most of Lisbon was destroyed by a terrible earthquake and tsunami in 1755 but it was soon rebuilt by the Marquis de Plombal who introduced what were then wide streets on a checkerboard pattern wherever he could.
The area between Rossio and Praça do Comercio, called "Baixa", is a good example of this trend. It could not however be applied on the hills on either side of Baixa that can best be visited by tram.
These charming old trams traverse the Chiado and Bario Alto districts to the west of Baixa as well as the Alfama district to the east. The windows open so you can easily take pictures from the tram.
The layout of many of the narrow streets covered by the tram in the hilly areas date from pre-Plombal times.
The Teatro São Carlos on the square of the same mame in Chiado, one of Lisbon's finest, was built in 1793 modeled on Milan's La Scala and Naples' San Carlos lyrical theatres.
Largo do Chiado easily reached by metro is a popular meeting place with many cafes and boutiques..
I have met a lot of strange people in my travels, even some that did not talk at all like this fellow in the terrace of the A Brasilera Café.
The tram does not go much further than the National Assembly before heading back to Baixa where I got off to visit Praça do Comercio.
Here is that big Christmas tree you could see from the top of the Santa Justa elevator. The equestrian statue of king José was erected in the centre of Praça do Comercio in 1775 and the big arch was built in 1873. It gives access to rua de Agosto that leads to Praça da Figueira.
It was a nice day so I took a ride on this modern ferry to the other side of the Tagus river and back.
In this view taken from the ferry, Castelo São Jorge to the east of Baixa and Praça da Comercio dominates the whole area. You can distinguish the Se Cathedral just below the fort Further east can be seen the São Vincent Monastery and the tall dome of the National Church of Santa Engrâcia.
Praça do Comercio taken from the ferry showing the Postal Administration buildings on the left, the Ministry of Justice in the center and the Ministry of Finance on the right.
Now we will go through the big arch to have a look at rua Augusta before climbing the hill to the Alfama district east of Baixa.
It was a week before Christmas, people were in a festive mood and vendors were out in the streets.
Vendors and entertainers of all kinds were making the best of it. This amusing group sporting American Indian costumes played andean reed flutes and an Australian abiriginal didgeridoo to add to the confusion.
Vendors of roasted chestnuts occupied their allocated spots every couple of blocks.
Naturally, some entertainers were more successful than others, this group drew applause.
Alfama is a warren of narrow streets dead ends and stairs like Chiado and Barrio Alto only more complex. Here are some examples below.
The church of Santa Lucia in Alfama is visited by many tourists because they all come here to enjoy the great view from the nearby Santa Lucia mirador.
Now you see what I mean. From left to right, the São Vincent Monastery, the dome of the National Church of St. Engracia and the Tagus River.
Moving west along the Tagus (downstream), Miguel and his fiancé showed me the Belem district where the famous Jeronimos' Monastery is located. Begun in 1501, it took a century to build the 300 metre long complex. It was classified a "World Heritage Site" by UNSCO in 1984.
Next to the monastery, the Naval Museum houses an interesting collection of historical maps, documents and model ships from the period of Portugal's great discoveries to the present day.
The Belem tower and fort on the left, guarding the entrance of the Tagus river gave this district its name. The monument at the extreme right of this panorama is a reproduction of the Fairley III B airplane called the Santa Cruz that was the first aircraft to fly nonstop the 8088 km between Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro in 1922.
And finally, here is a 360 degree panorama of the Boca do Bom Sucesso Marina halfway between the Belem Tower and the Discoveries monument that you can barely identify near the left end of the suspension bridge.
Several of my Lisbon photos were taken thanks to the help of my friend Miguel who showed me the sights of his home town. Miguel teaches architecture at the Lisbon University but he is also an experienced traveller and professional photographer with more than a hundred countries visited. He set up a photo gallery on the web to sell his photos and those of other travellers like myself. I can strongly recommend you visit Travel-Images.com to see the world.
Just before my departure for São Tome, Miguel brought me to the Parque das Naçoes where the last world exhibition of the 20th century was held. The spectacular Oriente train station is definitely worth a visit.
The Park of Nations must be full of people on a bright sunny day but it was cold and windy when we went there. However, the beer in one of the numerous bars of the entertainment park was just fine as you saw a couple of pictures past..
I spent a few days in the Canary islands and came back here before flying to the island of São Tomé off the coast of Gabon.
