Lisbon travel guide
Lisbon (Lisboa) is a bewitching city. It is remarkably picturesque, draped across its seven hills and overlooking the wide blue expanse of the River Tagus (Tejo), with wonderful miradouros (viewpoints). It is not only a cultural feast, with more than 30 museums, but has a thriving nightlife, with the charismatic districts of Alfama and Bairro Alto coming alive after dark, with buzzing restaurants, fado houses, and, later, bars and clubs to keep you going until daylight if you are so inclined.
A flavour of what Lisbon has to offer can be sampled in a crowded one-day visit, but that is barely enough to scratch the surface of the city’s complexities. Three days allows time to absorb the atmosphere, and city lovers will probably find a week too short. Lisbon’s climate of hot summers and mild winters makes it an ideal place to visit for most of the year, although spring and autumn are good times to enjoy the city at its best.
Many of the highlights of a visit to Lisbon are conveniently concentrated in three main areas, the heart of the city centred around the Baixa, and a significant cluster out along the riverside at Belém. Baixa is the hub of the city centre, watched over by Castelo São Jorge, below which cling the narrow streets and alleys of Alfama. To the west lies the hill of Bairro Alto, entered through the Chiado area. North, beyond Rossio, the main thoroughfare, Avenida da Liberdade, leads to Praça Marquês de Pombal and Parque Eduardo VII. East is the new neighbourhood of Parque das Nações with many pleasures of its own to offer.
A touch of history
The mythical founding of the city on seven hills is attributed to Ulysses (Odysseus) and his encounter with the nymph Calypso. Left behind when he departed, the heartbroken nymph turned herself into a snake whose coils became the seven hills. In reality, there has been a settlement on the site at least since prehistoric times. Its advantageous geographical position caught the attention of Phoenician traders in search of safe anchorage who developed a port, Alis Ubbo (Serene Port), around 1200 BC. The Greeks, then the Carthaginians, subsequently laid claim to the site. In 205 BC Olisipo (as it was then known) was incorporated into the Roman province of Lusitania. Julius Caesar elevated the status of the city to a municipium in 60 BC and renamed it Felicitas Julia. What little remains of the Roman occupation today is from this period of relative prosperity and growth. As the Roman Empire crumbled, the city was left unprotected and vulnerable to attacks by a succession of barbaric Germanic tribes.
After the arrival of the Moors in the 8th century, the city enjoyed 400 years of stability and increasing prosperity, which came to an end in 1147, when the first king of the newly formed nation of Portugal, Dom Afonso Henriques, captured Lisbon. Around 1260 the Moors were finally vanquished and the capital moved here from Coimbra. A university was established in 1290 by Dom Dinis but transferred to Coimbra in 1308. A power struggle between the Church and the Crown over the next 200 years saw the university shunted between the two cities. In the end, Coimbra won that particular battle and Lisbon was left without a university until 1911.
The dawn of the “Age of Discoveries’’ at the end of the 15th century turned Lisbon into an important trading centre. Wealth from the opening up of the sea route to India by Vasco da Gama flowed into the country and the city entered a golden age that lasted for a century. A 60-year period of Spanish rule saw a decline in fortunes, and for a while after the Spanish were ousted Lisbon suffered economically as maritime trade declined. The discovery of gold in Brazil ensured a return to former prosperity but most of this fortune was squandered by Dom João V on lavish building projects that were destroyed in the massive earthquake of 1755. The Marquês de Pombal was on hand to oversee the rebuilding of the city.
Since then, Lisbon has witnessed the end of the monarchy, gunned down in its main square, and endured a long period of dictatorship under Salazar, which kept the city free of modern development, perhaps the only thing we can thank him for.
Places to visit in Lisbon
Castelo de São Jorge
The Castelo de São Jorge (St George’s Castle) is reached by the steep alley and steps that continue up from the tram stop on Rua de Santa Justa. From the ramparts, you can look out across the centre of Lisbon, over the Baixa to the Bairro Alto, down to the river and the Ponte 25 de Abril, as far as Belém. The Moors, who ruled Portugal between the 8th and 12th centuries, clung hard to their castle but were finally dislodged in 1147. The new proprietor, Dom Afonso Henriques, expanded the fortifications, but earthquakes as well as general wear and tear over the following centuries left little intact. Restoration has since given new life to the old ruins, even if that means that much of the castle is not original. Apart from the sensational vistas and the chance to roam the battlements, the castle is worth a visit for the park gardens inside its walls. Peacocks and other birds strut around as if they own the place. There is a café and restaurant in the castle, and souvenir shops are to hand. Also inside is Olisipónia, an exhibition with a 30-minute multimedia history of Lisbon.
Elevador de Santa Justa
The Elevador de Santa Justa is a 30m- (100ft-) high iron neo-Gothic lift built by Raúl Mesnier in 1902. Originally powered by steam, it was rebuilt in 1993. An upper gangway gives access to the Bairro Alto. Today the still-functioning lift takes people to the level just below the top, from where a spiral staircase leads up to the main observation deck with its pleasant café and sensational views of Lisbon’s tiled rooftops and the São Jorge castle.
Mosteiro dos Jerónimos
The Mosteiro dos Jerónimos (Monastery of the Hieronymites) is Lisbon’s largest and most impressive religious monument and a Unesco World Heritage Site. Commissioned by Manuel I with the windfall of riches brought back by Portuguese ships from the East, the monastery is an obvious testament to a confident and faithful nation. The convent wing was destroyed in the 1755 earthquake, but the church and cloister survive, classic examples of 16th-century style.The vast south façade of the church, parallel to the river, is mostly unadorned limestone, making the few embellishments all the more remarkable. The main portal is a brilliant example of intricately carved stonework, as are the church’s tall Manueline columns (this style bridged the gap between the Gothic and Renaissance styles in Portugal). The effect is one of immense height and space. Near the west door are the modern tombs of two giants of Portugal’s Golden Age, Vasco da Gama and the poet Luís de Camões.
Museu Gulbenkian
One of the world’s great museums, Museu Gulbenkian was created to house one of the finest private art collections in Europe, acquired by an Armenian billionaire, Calouste Gulbenkian, and later bequeathed to the Portuguese state. A great philanthropist who died in Lisbon in 1955, Gulbenkian meticulously acquired acclaimed masterpieces and built up an excellent and wide-ranging collection. Surrounded by its own perfectly planned and maintained 17-acre park, the museum houses a huge collection, which begins chronologically, with Egyptian ceramics and sculptures dating back to around 2700 BC, delicate and perfectly preserved. A large section of the museum is devoted to art of the Islamic East, and includes ancient fabrics, costumes and carpets, plus ceramics, glassware and illuminated pages from the Koran. Paintings by Dutch and Flemish masters include works by Hals, Van Dyck and Ruysdael. Pride of place is given to two Rembrandts: Figure of an Old Man and a painting of a helmeted warrior believed to be Pallas Athene or Alexander the Great, probably modelled by Rembrandt’s son Titus.
The Centro de Arte Moderna is also a part of the Gulbenkian Foundation. This is the best place to see 20th-century Portuguese and Britsh art, and there are some excellent works by Amadeo de Souza Cardoso, Vieira da Silva and Almada Negreiros, particularly of society types and Lisbon café life. There are also a couple of early Paula Rego abstracts, from 1935 and works by Britsh artists such as David Hockney and Henry Moore.
The Alfama district
Alfama is Lisbon’s oldest, most picturesque and fascinating area. Here, in a labyrinth of steep, crooked streets, alleys and stairways – a layout left by Moorish occupants of the city – little seems to have changed since the Middle Ages. The whole area between the castle and the waterfront is a jumble of tilting houses with peeling paint, pastel laundry hanging from windows, bars and fish stalls. The streets are so narrow that it’s not uncommon to overhear elderly women sharing gossip across balconies. You are almost certain to get lost, but in this area – safe and easygoing by day – that’s part of the attraction. Stick to the narrow streets; if you find yourself in a street wide enough for two cars to pass, then you have strayed from the Alfama area.
A good start to your explorations is at the bottom of the hill at the Museu do Fado in Largo do Chafariz de Dentro. This sets the tone for the soul of the district, with a history of the city’s famous music in song sheets, film clips and recordings, and a complete mocked-up fado tavern where you can sit and listen to Amália Rodrigues and other bygone stars.
Rua de São João da Praça is where the first king of Portugal, Dom Afonso Henriques, entered Lisbon through the Moorish defensive wall on 25 October 1147. The remains of a tower that was part of the Moorish defences can be found on Largo de São Rafael.
Rua de São Pedro is Alfama’s boisterous main shopping street and site of a fish market. On weekday mornings, it’s a cacophony of shouting fishmongers, gossiping punters, chickens, dogs and children playing football.
Igreja de São Miguel (St Michael’s Church) was built in the 12th century and restored after the earthquake; it has a glorious ceiling of Brazilian jacaranda wood and a rococo gilt altar screen. To the east, Igreja de Santo Estêvão (St Stephen’s Church) has a 13th-century octagonal floor plan, but has been rebuilt several times over the years; the overhanging back of the church nearly collides with the front gate of an old palace.
The alley called Beco da Cardosa, with its blind-alley offshoots, is the very essence of Alfama’s appeal. On Beco do Carneiro (Sheep Alley), ancient houses sag towards each other across a stepped-street barely wide enough for two people; above, the eaves of the buildings actually touch.
