Lisbon is
the capital and the largest city of Portugal,
with a population of 552,700. Its urban area extends beyond the city's
administrative limits with a population of around 2.7 million people, being the 11th-most populous urban area in the European Union.
Lisbon is one of the oldest cities in the world, and the
oldest in Western Europe,
predating other modern European capitals such as London, Paris and Rome by centuries. Julius Caesar made it a municipium called Felicitas Julia, adding to the
nameOlissipo. Ruled by a series of Germanic
tribes from the 5th century, it
was captured by the Moors in the 8th century. In 1147, the Crusaders under Afonso Henriques reconquered the city and since then it has been a major
political, economic and cultural centre of Portugal.
Lisbon enjoys a Mediterranean climate. Among all the
metropoleis in Europe, it has the warmest winters, with average temperatures
15 °C (59 °F) during the day and 8 °C (46 °F) at night from
December to February. The typical summer season lasts about six months, from
May to October, although also in April temperatures sometimes reach around
25 °C (77.0 °F).
The name of Lisbon can be traced back
to Phoenician times, according to one of several conjectures on the origin of
Lisbon's toponymy, or alternatively, to the legend that Odysseus founded Lisbon. Another conjecture suggests that the
settlement took the name of the pre-Roman word for the Tagus (Lisso or Lucio).
Lisbon's name was written Ulyssippo in Latin by the geographer Pomponius Mela, a native of Hispania. It was later referenced as
"Olisippo" by Pliny the
Elder and by the Greeks as Olissipo (Ὀλισσιπών) or Olissipona (Ὀλισσιπόνα).
HISTORY
Lusitanian raids and rebellions during Roman
occupation necessitated the construction of a wall around the settlement.
During Augustus' reign, the
Romans also built a great theatre; the Cassian Baths (underneath Rua da Prata); temples to Jupiter, Diana, Cybele, Tethys and Idea Phrygiae (an uncommon
cult from Asia Minor), in
addition to temples to the Emperor; a large necropolis under Praça da Figueira;
Following the disintegration of the
Roman Empire there were barbarian invasions; between 409 and 429 the
city was occupied successively by Sarmatians, Alans and Vandals.
The Germanic Suebi, who established
a kingdom in Gallaecia (modern Galicia and northern Portugal), with its
capital in Bracara Augusta,
also controlled the region of Lisbon until 585. In 585, the Suebi Kingdom was
integrated into the Germanic Visigothic Kingdom of Toledo, which comprised all
of the Iberian Peninsula: Lisbon was then calledUlishbona.
The Muslim influence is still visible
present in the Alfama district, an old quarter of Lisbon
that survived the 1755 Lisbon
earthquake: many place-names are derived from Arabic and the Alfama (the oldest
existing district of Lisbon) was derived from the Arabic "al-hamma".
After the 1755 earthquake, the city
was rebuilt largely according to the plans of Prime Minister Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo,
the1st Marquess of Pombal; the lower town began to be known as the Baixa Pombalina (Pombaline central district). Instead
of rebuilding the medieval town, Pombal decided to demolish what remained after
the earthquake and rebuild the city centre in accordance with principles of
modern urban design. It was reconstructed in an open rectangular plan with two
great squares: the Praça do
Rossio and the Praça do Comércio. The first,
the central commercial district, is the traditional gathering place of the city
and the location of the older cafés, theatres and restaurants; the second
became the city's main access to the River Tagus and point of departure and
arrival for seagoing vessels, adorned by a triumphal arch (1873) and monument
to King Joseph I.
In the first years of the 19th
century, Portugal was invaded by the troops of Napoléon Bonaparte, forcing Queen Maria I and Prince-Regent John (future
John VI) to flee temporarily to Brazil. By the time the new King returned to Lisbon,
many of the buildings and properties were pillaged, sacked or destroyed by the
invaders.
During World War II, Lisbon was one of the
very few neutral, open European Atlantic ports, a major gateway for refugees to
the U.S. and a haven for spies. More than 100,000 refugees were able to flee Nazi Germany via Lisbon.
Lisbon was the site of three
revolutions in the 20th century. The first, the 5 October 1910 revolution, brought an
end to the Portuguese monarchy and established the highly unstable
and corrupt Portuguese First
Republic. The 6 June 1926
revolution would see the end of
that first republic and firmly establish the Estado
Novo, or the Portuguese Second
Republic, as the ruling regime. The final revolution, theCarnation Revolution,
would take place on 25 April 1974 and would end the right-wing Estado Novo and
reform the country as the current Portuguese Third Republic.
In the 1990s, many of the districts
were renovated and projects in the historic quarters were established to
modernise those areas; architectural and patrimonial buildings were
recuperated; the northern margin of the Tagus was re-purposed for leisure and
residential use; the Vasco da
Gama Bridge was constructed; and
the eastern part of the municipality was re-purposed for Expo '98, to commemorate the 500th
anniversary of Vasco da Gama's
sea voyage to India, a voyage that would bring immense riches to Lisbon and
cause many of Lisbon's landmarks to be built.
Alfama
The oldest district of Lisbon, it spreads down the
southern slope from the Castle of São Jorge to
the River Tagus.
Its name, derived from the Arabic Al-hamma, means fountains or baths.
During the Islamic invasion of Iberia, the Alfama constituted the largest part of the city,
extending west to the Baixa neighbourhood. Increasingly, the Alfama became
inhabited by fishermen and the poor: its fame as a poor neighbourhood continues
to this day.
Mouraria
The Mouraria,
or Moorish quarter, is one of the most traditional neighborhoods of Lisbon,
although most of its old
buildings were demolished by the Estado
Novo between the 1930s and the
1970s. It takes its
name from the fact that after the reconquest of Lisbon, the Muslims who
remained were confined to this part of the city. In turn, the Jews were confined to
three neighbourhoods called "Judiarias"
Bairro Alto (literally the upper quarter in Portuguese)
is an area of central Lisbon that functions as a residential, shopping and
entertainment district; it is the centre of the Portuguese capital's nightlife,
attracting hipster youth and members of various music subcultures.
The heart of the city is the Baixa or city centre; the Pombaline Baixa is
an elegant district, primarily constructed after the 1755 Lisbon earthquake, taking its
name from its benefactor, 1st
Marquess of Pombal, Sebastião
José de Carvalho e Melo, who was the minister ofJoseph I of Portugal (1750–1777) and a key figure during
the Portuguese Enlightenment.
Belém is famous as the place from
which many of the great Portuguese explorers set off on their voyages of discovery.
In particular, it is the place from which Vasco
da Gama departed for India in 1497 and Pedro Álvares Cabral
departed for Brazil in 1499. It is also a former royal residence and features
the 17th–18th century Belém
Palace, a former royal residence now occupied by the President of Portugal, and the Ajuda Palace, begun in 1802 but never
completed.
Perhaps Belém's most famous feature
is its tower, Torre de Belém,
whose image is much used by Lisbon's tourist board. The tower was built as a
fortified lighthouse late in the reign of Dom
Manuel l (1515–1520) to guard the
entrance to the port. It stood on a little island in right side of the Tagus, surrounded by water. Belém's
other major historical building is the Mosteiro
dos Jerónimos (Jerónimos
Monastery), which the Torre de
Belém was built partly to defend.
Belém's most notable modern feature is the Padrão
dos Descobrimentos (Monument to
the Discoveries) built for the Portuguese World Fair in 1940. In the heart of
Belém is the Praça do Império:
gardens centred upon a large fountain, laid out during World War II. To the west of the
gardens lies the Centro
Cultural de Belém. Belém is one of the most visited Lisbon districts.
What to see: click here
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