My wife and I spent close to a week in Lisbon in the summer of 2012. We were very impressed by Lisbon, a beautifully planned city that was re-built in 1755 after a devastating earthquake. The credit for rebuilding the city, almost from scratch, goes to Marques de Pombal, and he did a brilliant job of planning and executing the rebuilding of the devastated city. For me, the city's high points were its magnificent churches, its lively squares and its beautiful museums.
Lisbon is the capital of Portugal and has a population of about 505,000, though over 3 million people live in the Lisbon metropolitan area. Lisbon was part of the Roman empire in the 2nd century AD. In the 4th century AD, after the disintegration of the Western Roman Empire, there were Barbarian invasions. In the 8th century, the city was taken over by Muslim forces from North Africa and the Middle East.
In 1147, Afonso I of Portugal conquered and took over Lisbon, and Christianity was restored. In 1255, Lisbon became the capital of the new Portugese territory, due to its central location. The age of Discovery, starting from the late 15th century, saw Portugese explorers like Vasco da Gama going to new parts of the world that hadn't been visited by Europeans before. In 1580, there was a dual monarchy in power, under the Spanish Habsburgs. Portugese control was restored in 1640. The 1755 earthquake killed an estimated 30,000 people in the city, out of a population of 200,000. 85% of the city's buildings were damaged in the earthquake, and the city had to be re-built.
Lisbon has seen no fewer than three revolutions in the 29th century. The 1910 revolution brought to an end the Portugese monarchy and established the Portugese First Republic. The 1926 revolution established the Portugese Second Republic. The Carnation Revolution in 1974 established the Portugese Third Republic.
Lisbon has some beautiful city squares lined with restaurants, bars and pubs, and are always buzzing with life, whether one goes for a leisurely lunch or for a late night outing. Praca da Restauradores is a tree lined square and is named after the men who fought in the 1640 War of Restoration.
Rossio Square is another popular square, which has the National Theatre to its north. At the centre of the square, there is a statue of Dom Pedro IV, the first emperor of independent Brazil.
Prace da Figueira was built as a marketplace after the 1755 earthquake. In 1885, a covered marketplace was introduced but it was demolished in 1950. The square has an equestrian statue of Joao I erected in 1971.
Lisbon is the capital of Portugal and has a population of about 505,000, though over 3 million people live in the Lisbon metropolitan area. Lisbon was part of the Roman empire in the 2nd century AD. In the 4th century AD, after the disintegration of the Western Roman Empire, there were Barbarian invasions. In the 8th century, the city was taken over by Muslim forces from North Africa and the Middle East.
In 1147, Afonso I of Portugal conquered and took over Lisbon, and Christianity was restored. In 1255, Lisbon became the capital of the new Portugese territory, due to its central location. The age of Discovery, starting from the late 15th century, saw Portugese explorers like Vasco da Gama going to new parts of the world that hadn't been visited by Europeans before. In 1580, there was a dual monarchy in power, under the Spanish Habsburgs. Portugese control was restored in 1640. The 1755 earthquake killed an estimated 30,000 people in the city, out of a population of 200,000. 85% of the city's buildings were damaged in the earthquake, and the city had to be re-built.
Lisbon has seen no fewer than three revolutions in the 29th century. The 1910 revolution brought to an end the Portugese monarchy and established the Portugese First Republic. The 1926 revolution established the Portugese Second Republic. The Carnation Revolution in 1974 established the Portugese Third Republic.
Lisbon has some beautiful city squares lined with restaurants, bars and pubs, and are always buzzing with life, whether one goes for a leisurely lunch or for a late night outing. Praca da Restauradores is a tree lined square and is named after the men who fought in the 1640 War of Restoration.
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| Praca da Restauradores |
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| Rossio Square |
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| Praca da Figueia |
Praca do Comercio is a vast open space that was the site of the royal residence for four centuries, before it was destroyed in the 1755 earthquake. A new palace was subsequently built. After the 1910 revolution, it was converted into government administrative offices. To the south of the square, there is a gateway which was used by royalty and ambassadors to enter the city from the river.
The Se goes back to 1150, three years after Afonso Henriques recaptured Lisbon from the Moors. The cathedral was built for the first bishop of Lisbon. The cathedral was damaged by three tremors in the 14th century and was then destroyed by the 1755 earthquake. It was subsequently renovated. The present structure has two bell-towers and a splendid rose window.The interior is austere.
Sao Vicente de Fora was completed in 1627. The church is famous for having the sarcophagi of almost every king and queen from Joao IV (who died in 1656) to Manuel II (the last king of Portugal).
The Igreja do Carmo is a reminder of the 1744 earthquake and is still partially in ruins - the church collapsed during a congregation when the earthquake struck.
The Museu Nacional de Art Antiga is housed inside a 17th century palace. In 1770, it was acquired by the Marques de Pombal, and stayed with his family for over a century. The museum has paintings by masters like Durer and Holbein, as well as some beautiful religious triptychs from the medieval period.
The Museu Calouste Gulbenkian houses the collection of the Armenian oil magnate Calouste Gulbenkian. It has an eclectic collection, including paintings by masters like Rubens, Rembrandt and Monet, sculptures by artists like Houdin, European decorative arts and ancient Egyptian artifacts.
Museu Nacional do Azulejo (National Tile Museum) has an impressive collection of printed tiles. The museum is housed in a convent founded by the widow of King Joao II in 1509. It was restored by Joao III. The museum has the Madre de Deus, a chapel with ornate decorations and a beautiful altarpiece. One of the museum's highlights is a panorama of Lisbon before the 1755 earthquake.
The Tower of Belem, with its Moorish watchtowers, dates back to the 16th century and served as the starting point for maritime explorers. The tower was commissioned by Manuel I. The tower has the statue of Our Lady of Safe Homecoming, depicting the Virgin and Child, and made as a symbol of protection for sailors on their voyages.
The Monument to the Discoveries is located near the Tower of Belem and was built in 1960 to commemorate the 500th death anniversary of Henry the Navigator. The monument is dedicated to the explorers and navigators who made Portugal famous for its discoveries in the 15th century.
The Oceanarium is one of the world's largest aquariums and has a large central tank with sharks, sting rays and numerous other forms of underwater life. It was made for the Expo'98, and resembles an aircraft carrier.
The beautiful Bullring has a Moorish facade and bull fights occur regularly there. Though bulls are not killed, like they are in Spain, they are still injured with the spears that matadors throw at them - we went for the experience, but it was a bit much for my wife and me, and we found ourselves leaving well before the show ended!
Lisbon surpassed our expectations in every way. The sheer beauty of the city thrilled us. We were also very happy with the pricing of everything, from hotels (we stayed in a very comfortable three star hotel for barely 45 Euros per night!) to restaurants to tourist spots. Tram travel made commuting easy and convenient.
The small town of Fatima lies about 130 km north of Lisbon. It has a population of 11,000. Fatima is well known among Catholic pilgrims because of the apparitions of the Virgin Mary, apparently seen in 1917 by three little shepherd girls - Lucia, Francisco and Jacinta. The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fatima attracts Catholic pilgrims from across the world. Francisco and Jacinta died in the 1918 flu pandemic, but Lucia lived to the ripe old age of 98. Work on the basilica started in 1928 and went on till 1954.
Alas, our last day in Lisbon ended in a disaster. We went to the Santa Apolonia Railway Station to board an overnight train to Madrid. We boarded the train half an hour before the scheduled departure time. We kept our bags in the luggage rack at the back of the train. We were settling into our seats along with our small bags, when I saw a man removing our big suitcase from the luggage rack. I rushed towards him. He said in broken English that there seemed to be a hole in our suitcase and money was falling out - he showed me a large number of 1 Euro coins lying on the floor. I was puzzled because that suitcase didn't have any money in it. He signaled to my wife and asked her to rush to us. Not knowing what the chaos was about, she started walking towards us. I realised she shouldn't be coming because all our small bags were on our seats. We both dashed back to our seats to make sure everything was OK. All of this took all of 5 seconds, and in those 5 seconds, my pouch disappeared, and with it went our passports, about Euros 1,500 in cash, my mobile phone, all my credit cards, our Eurail passes and my expensive camera lens!!
In the flash of a second, this man disappeared, and we never got to see his accomplice. My wife remained calm throughout - she was just thankful that we were both OK. I was more agitated than ever before! We got off the train and rushed to the police. We were taken to a police station, about half an hour away. A police report was lodged, but nothing came out of it. We were asked to try and identify the man from some 500 photographs of notorious characters, but he had been wearing a bandana and goggles, so there was no way we could identify him.
My wife had a credit card with her, plus her phone. These somehow saw us through. We went to the Indian Embassy the next day. The embassy was very helpful and they took a day to issue emergency travel certificates. We had no option but to cut our holiday short, and we came back to India, badly shaken! Sad that such a wonderful stay in Lisbon was sullied with this nightmarish incident. But we put it down to learning. It didn't in any way effect our wanderlust, and barely 8 months later, armed with new passports, we were back to exploring different countries, though we do tend to be that much more alert and cautious now!!
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| Praca do Comercio |
Avenida da Liberdade is a 90 meter wide tree-lined boulevard, built along the lines of Paris' Champs Elysees. It has a World War I Memorial.
The Jeronimos Monastery was commissioned by Manuel I in 1501 after Vasco da Gama's return from his historic voyage. The monastery has Vasco da Gama's tomb, the tomb of Manuel I, a spectacular nave held aloft by octagonal pillars, and a cloister.
The Maritime Museum stands at one end of Jeronimos Monastery. It was inaugurated in 1962. Before leaving for their voyages, explorers did their mass in the chapel of this building. The museum has exhibits on the history of ship building, navigational instruments and models of ships.
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| World War Memorial, Avenida da Liberdade |
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| Jeronimos Monastery |
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| High Altar, Jeronimos Monastery |
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| Cloistered Corridor, Jeronimos Monastery |
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| Maritime Museum |
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| Royal Barge, Maritime Museum |
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| Sao Vicenta da Fora |
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| Chapel of St Anthony, Sao Vicenta da Fora |
Santa Engracia, also called the National Pantheon, has cenotaphs of several important historical figures, including that of Infant de Henrique, who was a patron of early Portugese discoveries.
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| Santa Engracia |
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| Interior, Santa Engracia |
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| Dome Interior, Santa Engracia |
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| Igreja do Carmo |
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| Mummified Girl, Igreja do Carmo |
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| Scenes from the Life of Christ, Igraja do Carmo |
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| Durer's St Jerome, Museu Nacional de Art Antiga |
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| Calvario's Triptych, Museu Nacional da Art Antiga |
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| Pieta, Museu Nacional da Art Antiga |
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| Houdon's Diana, Museu Calouste Gulbenkian |
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| Monet's Still Life With Melon, Museu Calouste Gulbenkian |
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| Rodin's Victor Hugo, Museu Calouste Gulbenkian |
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| Cafe at Museu Nacional de Azulejo |
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| Tower of Belem |
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| Monument to the Discoveries |
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| Pavement Map, Monument to the Discoveries |
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| Oceanarium |
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| Matadors at the Bullring |
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| Bull at the Bullring |
The small town of Fatima lies about 130 km north of Lisbon. It has a population of 11,000. Fatima is well known among Catholic pilgrims because of the apparitions of the Virgin Mary, apparently seen in 1917 by three little shepherd girls - Lucia, Francisco and Jacinta. The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fatima attracts Catholic pilgrims from across the world. Francisco and Jacinta died in the 1918 flu pandemic, but Lucia lived to the ripe old age of 98. Work on the basilica started in 1928 and went on till 1954.
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| Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fatima |
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| High Altar, Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fatima |
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| Tombs of Francisco and Jacinta, Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fatima |
In the flash of a second, this man disappeared, and we never got to see his accomplice. My wife remained calm throughout - she was just thankful that we were both OK. I was more agitated than ever before! We got off the train and rushed to the police. We were taken to a police station, about half an hour away. A police report was lodged, but nothing came out of it. We were asked to try and identify the man from some 500 photographs of notorious characters, but he had been wearing a bandana and goggles, so there was no way we could identify him.
My wife had a credit card with her, plus her phone. These somehow saw us through. We went to the Indian Embassy the next day. The embassy was very helpful and they took a day to issue emergency travel certificates. We had no option but to cut our holiday short, and we came back to India, badly shaken! Sad that such a wonderful stay in Lisbon was sullied with this nightmarish incident. But we put it down to learning. It didn't in any way effect our wanderlust, and barely 8 months later, armed with new passports, we were back to exploring different countries, though we do tend to be that much more alert and cautious now!!
1 comment:
Portugal is a very beautiful country and despite the not so exciting ending, I would recommend it as a travel destination.
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