Getting around, Lisbon

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Favorite thing: Rossio is one of the main squares in Lisbon. Its official name is "Praca Dom Pedro IV". Long ago it was used as cattle market, public execution place, bullfight arena and carnival ground. In the middle of this square a tall column with a statue of king Pedro IV is located. It is surrounded by the Dona Maria II National Theatre, various cafes, shops and some restaurants.

Favorite thing: Little things about Lisbon
It lies between the Palace Square and the Rossio. By the XII century an estuary of the Tejo, after a "pool" where the rubble was deposited and an irregular urbanization was build. D. Dinis builds Rua Nova and a wall, D. Fernando another new wall, this one around the town, and D. Manuel sends bulldoze the sandy ground to build the Palacio da Ribeira. After the 1755 earthquake the labyrinthine seventy alleyways and courtyards, fifty streets, sixteen squares changes to a grid, reduced to ten streets oriented north to south and eight cross-cutting in east-west direction under the guidance of Marques de Pombal.
A glimpse of all this can be seen at Nucleo Arqueologico da Rua dos Correeiros.

Favorite thing: Little things about Lisbon.
Avenida da Liberdade boulevard is the natural continuation of the square of the Restauradores to the Marques de Pombal square.
In 1859 a suggestion was made the Board to open a wide avenue that would link the Passeio Publico from the Rossio to São Sebastião da Pedreira. On August 1879 the works for opening the avenue began. With the avenue still incomplete, on May 25 1886, the inauguration was performed with an official parade, integrated in the program of parties for the marriage of D. Carlos, still a prince, and Princess Dona Maria Amelia of Orleans.
Today the Avenida da Liberdade and Rua Castilho are the two most expensive shopping streets of the city, separated by a few meters they may be the fashion district from Lisboa.

Favorite thing: Little things about Lisbon.
This avenue was open the early years of the 20 century, Avenida Almirante Reis is the extension to the north of Rua da Palma (Praça da Figueira area) and ends at Praça Francisco Sa Carneiro. Initially called Dona Amelia Av (after the queen then) it was changed after the Republic to the present name in honor of Carlos Cândido dos Reis (1852-1910): a navy vice-admiral and one of the organizers of the Republican Revolution of 5 October 1910, who commits suicide at dawn of October 5 1910 convinced of the failure of the revolution.

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Favorite thing: Chiado is the name given to the quarter west of the Baixa, located on the slope that forms the link between the lower and the upper (Bairro Alto) parts of the city. The name is often also used to denote only the elegant shopping street, Rua Garrett, situated in the center of the quarter. This main street is where we can find some of the most emblematic places in Chiado, such as the almost tri-centennial Bertrand Bookshop or the centennial Art Nouveau café A Brasileira. It also gives access to the Chiado Museum, the opera theatres of S. Carlos and S. Luiz and to the ruins of Convento do Carmo (Archaeological museum). In Rua Garret we can find 3 churches: Mártires, built in 1147 in memory of the martyrs killed during the reconquest of Lisbon by Afonso Henriques, Encarnação with beautiful tiles and frescoed ceilings, and Loreto, the Italian community church in Lisbon, with frescoed ceilings and a splendid furnished sacristy in pau santo (Brazilian wood).
At the top of the street we have Largo do Chiado, where the gate in Fernando’s walls (king Fernando I) once opened (in the place where the 2 churches stand today). In front of Chiado square is another, bigger, square which is one of the main accesses to Bairro Alto -Largo de Camões- dedicated to the national poet -we celebrate Portugal’s Day on his date of death, June, 10th.

All this area was once the epicenter of bohemian Lisbon and today is undoubtedly an elitist area of the city.
While in Avenida da Liberdade we can find the headquarters and important offices of major national and international companies along with international fashion and design shops, in Chiado you have the same elegance in emblematic theatres, antique bookshops, old-style cafes, art nouveau jewelry shops and luxurious international names such as Hermes and Cartier. In a small dimension (scaled to the city’s dimension) Chiado in Lisbon can be thought as the 5th Avenue in New York, or Oxford Street in London. You may evaluate it yourself by going into the opulently gilded Tavares Rico Restaurant opened in 1784 (known as the most expensive restaurant in the city), by taking a look at the fine porcelain of the Vista Alegre shop (although you can find Vista Alegre shops in some new shopping malls) or the wonderful hand-painted ceramics and tiles based on antique patterns from Fábrica Sant'Ana (founded in the 1700s), or checking out the boutique of Ana Salazar, one of Portugal's international fashion designers that also has collections of interior design and accessories.

The poet and playwright António Ribeiro (1520-91) gave the area its name. A contemporary of Luis Vaz de Camões, he was originally a Franciscan monk but left his order and went to Lisbon where he became known as "Chiado". On Largo do Chiado a monument in memory of António Ribeiro was erected in 1925. Another, more famous poet, has a curious monument here too: Fernando Pessoa sits, in life size bronze, at a table infront of the Café A Brasileira, ready to have a photograph taken with tourists, this man who in life was so shy and reserved. Pessoa, a public service official spent entire afternoons in this café (and in Café Martinho da Arcada in Praça do Comércio). He wrote about the Brasileira: “the corners stare at me, the smooth walls really smile at me”. In Largo S. Carlos you can visit Pessoa House, a small museum with some of his belongings and books.

The name of the Rua Garrett in the center of Chiado commemorates another writer, Almeida Garrett (1799-1854), who was also temporarily active as a liberal politician. Actually at the turn of the century and during the first decade of the 20th C. Chiado was the meeting place for writers and artists. Political and cultural exchanges constantly took place in the cafes here. That’s why we can spot reminders of the city's intellectual life, with statues of literary figures such as Luis de Camões (in the square of its name), Eça de Queiroz, and Fernando Pessoa.

Chiado hit the world headlines when an enormous fire destroyed part of the quarter on August 25, 1988. The fire affected an area of "only" 2ha/ 5 acres but nevertheless the destruction seriously spoiled the character of the district. In the main it was the Rua do Carmo which was affected by the catastrophe. Together with homes and offices two old department stores burnt down, as well as the famous Pastelaria Ferrari, the Casa Batalha (jewelry) and the valuable archives of the music shop Valentim do Carvalho containing unique documents relating to the history of Portuguese music. I was one of the many impotent voyeurs of the disaster as I was serving in the army on the hills of Graça just across the Baixa.

Chiado was rebuilt and rethought by the internationally awarded architect Siza Vieira so as to keep its original glamour. The Armazéns do Chiado (Chiado storehouses) were converted to a modern shopping center with several types of shops including a big FNAC music and bookshop. The Carmo street become a wide open pedestrian-only street after the fire (actually the access of the fire brigades to the street was impracticable to the spot of fire allowing the fire to extend). Walking along these streets is always a unique pleasure, whether it is for the beauty of its buildings or for the variety and multiplicity of people which walk through it each day. And here we can find the “usual” street vendors and jugglers, some beggars and all sorts of tourist “fauna”.

The area is served with a metro stop with the same name -Chiado (green line) and is also served with Lisbon’s buses and trams. It has also an underground parking car.

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Favorite thing: Bairro Alto is a picturesque working class quarter with lanes and narrow streets at right angles to each other, and partially ruined houses, clad in azulejos (tiles). The quarter has been changing quite a lot throughout the ages –from a rich and new place, to the city's bohemian haunt of artists and writers, to the nowadays trendy nightlife of the city.
Located above the Baixa (it is the highest quarter of old Lisbon) between Rua do Século, Rua de D. Pedro V, Rua de S. Pedro de Alcântara/Rua da Misericórdia and Rua do Loreto/Calçada do Combro, the quarter developed in the 16th C. in the course of an extension of the city center towards the west and the northwest. When Alfama increasingly changed its character and started to be poorly maintained, some of Lisbon's prosperous inhabitants moved here and had houses and palaces built for themselves. That’s why in its beginnings Bairro Alto was the quarter where richer citizens and the nobility settled. Moreover, the construction of the magnificent baroque São Roque church (middle of the 16th C.) by the rich Jesuits played a significant part in attracting settlers to the area -the original name of this residential district was Bairro Alto de São Roque. The rather unusual geometric design in a hilly area used for the construction originates from a period when previously rural land was divided up for sale into rectangular and trapezoidal parcels.

The quarter only suffered relatively little damage during the earthquake of 1755 but it lost part of its importance and later the area become a center of newspaper industry with many small printing works and editorial offices setting up business here. "Journalist Quarter" was until recently an unofficial nickname for Bairro Alto. The roads Rua do Diário de Notícias and Rua do Século still bear witness to the offices of two of the larger daily newspapers which were once produced here and the Rua Eduardo Coelho commemorates the founder of the Portuguese newspaper industry and the daily newspaper "Diário de Notícias ".
Simultaneously, artists and writers developed a bohemian life in the quarter and prostitution (they just went up from Cais do Sodré area) brought a bad reputation for a long time to the place. Despite this Bairro Alto becomes predominantly a residential and working quarter for craftsmen and small shopkeepers that started to fade.

As many houses were uninhabited, in the middle 1990s Lisbon's city council made extensive repairs, and Bairro Alto went through major changes. The youngsters were encouraged to move here and were pushed to repair their own houses as a result of very special loans. The place blossomed again. And with youngsters around, dozens of new restaurants (portuguese but also italian, chinese, india, arab, etc.), clubs and trendy shops were opened. At the same time cars were banned (except for residents and emergency vehicles) and Bairro Alto becomes the heart of Lisbon's youth culture and nightlife. Lisbon's punk, gay, heavy metal music, gothic, hip hop and reggae scenes all have the Bairro as their home, due to the number of clubs and bars dedicated to each of them. But in a revival movement of the Lisbon traditional lifestyle some taverns (like Mascote da Atalaia) and cellars (like Adega Mesquita) persist and also dozens of fado singing clubs (maybe not the best) animate the area.
Parallel to those we have the oldest brewery (in a old convent) in the city –Cervejaria Trindade-, in the street with the same name, which after 150+ years of beer production still maintains its reputation as one of the best restaurant-pub-beerhouses in the city. And you have much more than beer here –you must look to the beautiful collection of old walled azulejos (tiles). Nearby you have other good restaurants like Papa Açorda (Rua da Atalaia), Bota Alta (Travessa da Queimada ), Brasserie de l'Entrecôte (Rua do Alecrim) or Bacchus (Travessa da Trindade) or the expensive but rather good Tavares Rico (Rua da Misericórdia).

Of course parallel to this “boom of youth” the zone struggles with a problem of vandalism, with graffiti destroying some historical buildings and despite the police presence, you can spot illegal drugs sold in the streets. But the area is safe (prostitution was banned) and especially on weekends (and week days in the summer) you'll find people of all ages, backgrounds, and lifestyles bar-hopping through the cobbled lanes or standing outside with a drink in hand enjoying the city's usual mild nights. You will find also hippies playing guitar on the streets, gays posing in front of bars and other peaceful oddities.

Nevertheless, the quarter presents a fundamentally different face during the daytime. Bairro Alto is quiet and still is a traditional district where older people gossip when shopping for groceries, and the younger generations visit stylish alternative fashion shops (that stay open until late at night), art galleries like “Zé dos Bois”, bookshops like “Ler Devagar” (slow read) or art gift shops like “Hold Me”.
The main commercial streets are Rua do Norte, Rua da Atalaia, and Rua do Diário de Noticias, from where it is easy to reach Miradouro de São Pedro de Alcântara (a garden-terrace with one of my favorite panoramic views over the city), and two of the city's most interesting churches: São Roque with its magnificent baroque interior (free to visit, has one of the nicest interiors of any church in Portugal, and a magnificent museum of Christian sacred art) and the romantic Gothic ruins of Carmo Convent (it houses also the Archaeological Museum).

As the district lies on one of Lisbon's seven hills to get there it's a fairly steep uphill walk from any direction. That’s why a couple of alternatives were developed: the typical funiculars -Elevador de Bica, departing from São Paulo, and Elevador da Gloria, departing from Praça dos Restauradores; and the lift -Elevador de Santa Justa (see transportation tips). This will save you time and legs but I will strongly recommend you to return downtown walking via Chiado -Rua Garrett and Rua do Carmo- or via Rua do Alecrim, if you come to Cais do Sodré. The nearest metro stop is Baixa/Chiado (green line) and the area is also served with Lisbon’s buses and trams. It has also an underground parking car.

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Favorite thing: Leading up from behind the National Theater D. Maria and Palácio da Independência is Rua das Portas de Santo Antão, a lively pedestrian-only street known, among other oddities, for the wide selection of options in what concerns seafood restaurants and beerhouses (cervejarias). Maybe the most famous one is Solmar (#106-108) with decorations from the middle 20th C. Most of the restaurants have outdoor seating and even if you are not a fan of seafood, look out for the eye-catching tanks filled with gigantic lobsters by the windows. Generally speaking, this street is rather touristy and, unfortunately, the waiters are sometimes a bit aggressive in their approach to tourists. The quality is good although the prices are not always the best as you pay the “tourist area tax” (you know what I mean, there’s no real tax).

Competing with “A Ginginha” from Largo S. Domingos, here we have the “Ginginha sem Rival” (cherry without rival) where the exquisite sour cherry liquor is served anytime

The street name (Gates of St Anthon) dates from the 15th C. when a gate in the former town wall stood here. In 1552 the later to become famous poet Luiz de Camões wrestling with some friends out in this street was arrested and sentenced to prison in the City Jail (on this same street) and from there forced to embark to India. Maybe this street led Camões with the predisposition to write the wonderful epic poem. The gates were removed in 1727 in order to enlarge the access to the Rossio area. At this time, the area was the location of the public slaughterhouse. The area was destroyed after the earthquake of 1755 and some interesting buildings were build on the late 19th C. and beginning of the 20th C.

By that time the place become a bohemian place for Lisbonners as many nightclubs were located here (Arcádia, Bristol club, Majestic, Monumental club and Palace club). None of them remains today but at the northern part of the street you still can spot some prostitution at night. But the area was and it is still known for its popular theaters - Politeama still presents musicals (“Revista” in Portuguese), Olympia- that later on the 80’s turn to one of the first adult cinemas in the city, and Condes that more recently become the “Hard Rock Café” in Lisbon. Across the Praça dos Restauradores another big theater –the Art Deco Éden- since 2001 become an apartment hotel and a bit up on the Avenida da Liberdade Tivoli Theater is still a big cinema in town. Another of the big constructions on the Portas de S. Antão street is the classical Coliseu dos Recreios, the Lisbon Coliseum, opened in 1890 as a circus, and today one of the largest concert venues on the city. Nevertheless, it houses also big conferences and political meetings and other events of the same kind.
Part of the Coliseu building is ascribed to the Geographical Society of Lisbon, a 130+ years old institution, which houses the Ethnological Museum with material from Africa, South America and Asia, and a magnificent library with 230000+ titles on display in a beautifully decorated room where classic music concerts are held.

One more remarkable building (although it looks so normal from the outside) stands at number 58 -the Casa do Alentejo-, a peculiar 17th C. palace worth visit. The place meant for the gathering and meeting of people with connections to the Alentejo (people usually born there, now living in Lisboa), a southern province in Portugal -Alentejo translates as “beyond the Tejo”. But the nice thing is that the building looks so normal from the outside, but in the inside it resembles an Arab palace, with an attractive Moorish courtyard, beautiful tiles (azulejos) and stucco work, where most the original decoration is preserved, even if just not in perfect condition. Besides the great atmosphere, the best thing is the restaurant (filled with tile decoration) which serves a great deal of food typical from the Alentejo region. Yes it’s one of my favorite places to make vtmeetings in the city.

Along with Casa do Alentejo, there were a few other professional associations (like the Athenaeum) in this street which provided physical, sporting and cultural activities to their associates and schools for their children.

All the way at the end of the street, at Rua de São José, you reach the bottom of the Elevador da Lavra, the world's first ever funicular, with a slope of 23º linking the Rua de São José with the Travessa do Forno do Torel and its garden / viewpoint (Miradouro) off the beaten tourist path. It opened on 19 April 1884 and carried 3000 people, free of charge, on that day alone! Originally water-powered, it was converted to electricity in 1915.

The entire area is served with different city buses and the closest metro stations are “Rossio” (green line) and Restauradores (blue line).

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Favorite thing: Situated in the south extreme of Avenida da Liberdade, the Restauradores Square is considered to be the starting point of the expansion of the city to the north, linking the Baixa Pombalina to the Marquês de Pombal Square. Built as an extension of the Public Walk it open to the public in 1882, and it started off by being an entirely pedestrian avenue with gardens, a mandatory passage of the distinct bourgeois walks, very similar to the style of the Champs Élysées in Paris.

In the center is a patterned pavement (black and white pebbles) of on the style of Portuguese calçada surrounding a 30-meter high obelisk. The obelisk was designed by António Thomaz da Fonseca, and was erected in 1886 in memory of the country's liberation by the Restauradores (from where the square took its name) who put an end to the 60 years of Spanish domination in 1640. We do still celebrate the date every December, 1st. The two bronze figures on the pedestal at the base symbolize Victory and Liberty. The monument also bears the dates of the chief battles in the campaigns who followed the Revolution of 1640.

Nowadays the square is one of the busiest areas in the Lisboa centre, lively with cafés, restaurants, shops and offices. The strong point of this area is, undoubtedly, its architecture, with diverse buildings characteristic and historical buildings. On the west side is Foz Palace, the former residence of the Marquis of Foz, now housing the National Tourism Office. Built from the mid-18th to the mid-19th C., the palace may only be visited with special permission or during some exhibitions or classic music concerts. The interior and its furniture were inspired by Paris' Versailles Palace and the most interesting rooms are the Renaissance-style Stove Room, the Mirror Room, and the atrium of the chapel of Our Lady of Purity.

Next to the Foz Palace we can find an adapted Art Deco marvel -I’m talking about Orion Eden Hotel. This was one of Lisbon's major cinema/theatre buildings -Eden Teatro- and its imposing facade still dominates the square with a stone frieze depicting stylized actors performing before a film crew and cameras. The name Eden Teatro is centrally located in the stonework above like it was when it opened in 1931 after the design of architects Cassiano Branco and Carlo Florencio Dias. With lavish interiors the theater was masqueraded as a Russian hotel in the Wim Wenders film "Until the End of the World" (1991). In 2001 it was converted into a 134 room apartment hotel but the facade has been retained (slightly modified by removing the two huge film advertising poster spaces) and 'opening up' the space by providing an atrium.

Closer to Rossio station we can spot another nice building -Avenida Palace Hotel- the only downtown hotel which was a Palace with history and tradition in Lisbon. Projected at the end of the 19th C. by master José Luís Monteiro, one of the most distinguished portuguese architects, who projected, among others, Rossio's Train Terminal, the Hotel was inaugurated in the year 1892, and has maintained all the characteristic romanticism of its "Belle Époque" architecture until today.

Across the square we can spot the world-famous music-themed restaurant (and memorabilia collectors Mecca) Hard Rock Café which is another nice building. This was used to be another old cinema, named Condes (the name is still on top of the build, so you can’t miss it). As you can see in my Rua das Portas de Santo Antão tip, this entire area was populated of cinemas, theaters, and nightclubs at the beginning of the 20th C -quite a bohemian place. Nowadays the Lisbon bohemian life moved to other out of center spots such as Bairro Alto, Santos, Docas and Parque das Nações.

On the left of the square a little higher up, at the corner of Calçada da Glória is the much photographed Elevador da Gloria, a funicular that links downtown to the Bairro Alto district. Take it up to have a splendid view from the S. Pedro de Alcântara Miradouro (viewpoint).

There’s a car parking and underground Restauradores (blue line) metro stations, and most of the Lisbon’s buses stop nearby or at the square.

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Favorite thing: Adjacent to the Rossio, this large and very popular square houses small stores and shops selling virtually everything - groceries from dried cod fish to fruit, but also fabric, hats, gloves, shoes, fine bone china and crystal, gold and silver crafts, chandeliers, etc., etc. It has also several Pensões (pensions and hostels) and Hotel Mundial is around the corner. Moreover, the square now houses an underground car parking and most of Lisbon’s buses stop here.
Since medieval times this was a trade and merchandise place but after the earthquake this area was designed as the city’s main marketplace surrounded by classical styled buildings. It remained as such until 1885 when a covered market was built (not so interesting as the Mercado da Ribeira). This market was demolished in the late 1940’s and gave place to an open space. Later on the 1970’s a bronze equestrian statue of King João I was added.

João I was an important Portuguese monarch -the first king of the second dynasty, known as the House of Aviz, after himself who was Master of the military Order of Aviz . The institution of House of Aviz followed the dynastic crisis that originated from the death of Fernando I (his half-brother) in 1383 without successors and the claim of the Portuguese throne by the Spanish king, Juan I de Castile. The people didn’t acclaim the Spanish king and acclaim for the first time someone out of the main lineage. In Portugal all kings had to be acclaimed by the people.
As the Spanish king shown reluctance with the people’s decision he invades Portugal in 1385 and entered into a battle in Aljubarrota (close to Leiria). João I choose as its constable Nuno Álvares Pereira who victory the decisive Battle of Aljubarrota (August 14, 1385), where the Castilian army (6 times bigger) was virtually annihilated due to the tactic used on the battle field.

To commemorate this victory João I promise to erect a monastery to thank the Virgin Mary -the monastery start in 1386 and it took 200 years to finish but becomes one of the jewels of the Portuguese architecture and UNESCO heritage -Mosteiro da Batalha (battle monastery) whose real name is Monastery of the Saint Mary of Victory.

On 11 February, 1387, João I married Philippa of Lancaster, daughter of John of Gaunt, who had proved to be a worthy ally, consolidating the Anglo-Portuguese Alliance that endures to the present day. This marriage was also quite fortunate as the progeny, known as the "Illustrious Generation" (Ínclita Geração) included Eduardo (future king), Peter (regent of the kingdom, not a VTEER but one of the most traveled princes of its time), Henrique or Henry the Navigator, who guided Portugal to the Great era of The Discoveries, Isabella who married Philip III of Burgundy, John, the grandfather of the two greatest Iberian monarchs in the 16th century, Manuel I of Portugal and Isabella I of Castile, and Fernando, "the Saint Prince," a warrior, who was captured during the Disaster of Tangier and died a prisoner of the Moors.
This period of Portuguese history is considered to include the ascension of Portugal to the status of a European and world power. The first act of expansion was the conquest of Ceuta in 1415 (under the commands of João I) and was followed by the exploration, colonization and commerce exercised in Africa, Asia and Brazil.

The statue of King João I is usually smothered by flocks of pigeons and surrounded by teenage skaters. In recent years there were some live concerts (they put a stage in the middle of the square) mostly during the summer times.
From this plaza we can get a very good view of the castle overlooking it. Try the view while you get a coffee and some pastries at the gold medal prize %L[http://www.casasuica.pt/Pastelaria Suíça, one of the best pastry shops in town founded in 1922. On the corner with Betesga street, another famous pastry house is the charming old Confeitaria Nacional, considered to be one of Europe's most elegant pastry shops when it opened in 1829. The Confeitaria still serves some mouth-watering cakes among them the quite famous “bolo-rei” (literally, King Cake) a traditional Portuguese soft dough cake with nuts and fruits, which is usually eaten around Christmas until the "Dia de Reis" (literally, Day of Kings, as a reference to the three wise men) on January 6th.

Along with the underground car parking, most of Lisbon’s buses and trams stop at the square which shares with Rossio square the metro station “Rossio” (green line) .

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Favorite thing: Next to Praça do Rossio and to Praça da Figueira is the Largo de S. Domingos with the church of the same name. This church was destroyed by the 1755 earthquake and rebuilt with beautiful pink marbles. In 1959 a huge fire damaged much of the church and some remaining signs of this fire can be spotted today. This plaza was a horrifying place on the old times as it was here that the sentences of the Inquisition were emitted. The sentenced people were taken from there to the fire places nearby (Rossio plaza). The big Estaus Palace from medieval times turned to be the Inquisition headquarters once the order comes to Portugal, a place that now is occupied by the National Theater D. Maria II.
Just behind the church is the Palacio da Independencia which commemorates independence from Spain.

The Largo S. Domingos was populated in the old times by shoe shine boys (you can still spot some but much more rarely nowadays), and vendors of roast chestnuts on the cold days -from November 11th (S. Martin’s day) up to January. Nowadays you will see the roast chestnuts vendors anywhere in Lisbon when in season.

At number 8 of Largo S. Domingos is one of the oldest and most characteristics points of Lisbon: “A Ginginha”, the house where a very exquisite cherry liquor is served anytime (see link). Ginjinha is a traditional sour cherry liquor that spread from this place and become popular all around the country. Some places like Óbidos specialized in this liquor but most part of the production of the cherries come from Fundão, near the Serra da Estrela.

There are several city bus lines stopping nearby, Rossio train station and the nearest metro stops are "Rossio" (green line) and “Restauradores” (blue line).