Lisbon. Brief history of Lisbon. Flag of Lisbon

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1 Lisbon Flag of Lisbon Situated on the north banks of the River Tagus, the charm of Lisbon exists in its strong links to the past. Its renovated palaces, magnificent churches and an impressive castle mirror the city's rich cultural heritage. Its eclectic blend of neighborhoods, culture and architecture distinguish this capital city uniquely from the other European capitals and make it a truly fascinating and comprehensive city to visit. A city set on seven hills, as the legend tells, with its cobble-stoned pavements and narrow streets full of Art Nouveau cafés promises a lot to discover. Most popular spots in Lisbon are; located around Rossio and Praça do Comércio, Baixa; situated on the hill around St. George s Castle, Alfama and Mouraria; and set on Tagus River, Belém. Lisbon also hosts a great number of remarkable museums of ancient and modern art, some of which are Calouste Gulbenkian Museum, National Museum of Contemporary Art, National Coach Museum, Berardo Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art and Carmo Archaeological Museum. But, Lisbon isn't all culture and history; Bairro Alto is the center of nightlife with various restaurants and bars where melancholic traditional Portuguese music, Fado, can also be listened. When tired of sight-seeing, shopping in Lisbon will take all your tiredness away! The biggest shopping mall in Iberian Peninsula, Centro Commercial Colombo, will offer you innumerous options. For those who prefer to shop in local markets, there is a fascinating flea market at the Campo de Santa Clara. The best way to discover Lisbon is to get lost in its narrow streets and up and down roads! Every narrow street will tell you a different story and every story will reach to your heart easily! Brief history of Lisbon Lisbon s history dates back to 300,000 years ago. However, it emerged as a nation state in the early 12th century and ranks as one of the world's longest founded cities. As the legend tells, it is a city founded and named by Ulysses as Ulissipo or Olissopo, which has its origins in the Phoenician words "Allis Ubbo", meaning "enchanting port". It is from there, according to legend, that Lisbon got its name.

2 Early history of Lisbon was a battlefield for Phoenicians, Greeks and Carthaginians, however it was Romans who started their two-century reign in Lisbon in 205 BC. During Romans period, Lisbon became one of the most significant cities in Iberian Peninsula and renamed Felicitas Julia. In 714, the Moors arrived to peninsula and resisted against Christian attacks for 400 years. When the Christians finally recaptured the city, it took one more century to repel all the Moors from the peninsula. The 15th century was the point of departure for the Portuguese Discoveries, an era during which Portugal enjoyed abundant wealth and prosperity through its newly discovered off shore colonies in Atlantic islands, the shores of Africa, the Americas and Asia. Vasco da Gama's famous discovery of the sea route to India marked this century. Lisbon was then world's most prosperous trading centre. Furthermore, many attractions of the city at present such as Mosteiro dos Jerónimos and Torre de Belém, both classified by UNESCO as World Heritage Sites, were built during this period. Photographer: António Sacchetti Mosteiro dos Jerónimos However, this era didn t take long: the earthquake of 1755 destroyed nearly entire city. The city was rebuilt by the Marquês de Pombal, who thus created the Baixa Pombalina, a commercial area that still attains attraction. In the 19th and 20th centuries, the city spread progressively to the North and areas such as the Avenidas Novas (New Avenues) were added. Today, Lisbon is one of the most beautiful capitals of Europe while still maintaining the marks of its early glorious history. Historical Sights Lisbon is a host to several museums, monuments, gardens and vantage points. Everything is in a very short distance and easy to reach. Regardless of what you're looking for, be it magnificent palaces, beautifully preserved exotic gardens, or a world-famous monument, there are a lot to discover around Lisbon.

3 This section provides you with historical highlights of Lisbon. Gardens: Monuments: Museums: Vantage Points: City quarters Lisbon is a diversified, time tunnel-like city offering a wonderful trip to the different periods of history. A small walk in the city would demonstrate that. If you d like to visit the medieval period, you shouldn t miss: São Jorge Castle, located on the highest hill of the city; Alfama neighborhood, survived the earthquake of 1755, enchants its visitors with its narrow streets from the Moors period; Sé de Lisboa; Convent of Carmo. Discoveries period exhibits itself in Belém by: Jerónimos Monastery, built by the King D. Manuel I; Tower of Belém, a military construction on the entrance of Tagus River. These two buildings are classified as World Heritage by UNESCO. The most important building from the beginning of the XVIII. century is the Aqueduct of Águas Livres (Free Waters). After the earthquake of 1755, on the new plan approved by Marquês de Pombal for the central zone of the city (Baixa Pombalina), the Praça do Comércio (plaza of commerce) was built on the banks of the Tagus River. Nearby, and with artistic interest, you can find the Praça dos Restauradores and the Elevator of Santa Justa, built in the end of the XIX. century by Mesnier du Ponsard, one of the students of Eiffel. We should also refer the royal Palaces of Necessidades and of Ajuda, on the West part of the city.

4 In the end of the XIX. century, the urban plans extended the city beyond Baixa, which today is Avenida da Liberdade ( Avenue of Freedom). Praça Marquês de Pombal was built in 1934, on top of Avenida de Liberdade. XX. Century architecture can be seen in the Avenidas Novas (new avenues), the University of Lisbon area, the Olivais zone and the very recent Parque das Nações (Nations Park) and Alta de Lisboa, which is still in construction. The most notable buildings in terms of architecture from the end of the XX century are the Amoreiras Tower (built in 1985 by architect Tomás Taveira), the Centro Cultural de Belém (Cultural Center of Belém, built in 1991), the Estação do Oriente (Oriente train station by architect Santiago Calatrava), the Tower Vasco da Gama and the Lisbon Oceanarium (by Peter Chermayeff), all built in 1998 for the international exhibition of the same year. Lisbon by day Shopping in Lisbon is great fun! Big and small shopping malls run all over the city, but there are some particular areas in the city restricted to shopping where you can find almost anything you might need Main Shopping Areas Baixa compromising Rossio, the Augusta street and its transversal streets, the recently renewed Chiado and the Liberdade Avenue are only few examples. Besides many international shops and designer boutiques, you can also find handmade best quality domestic leather items such as shoes, gloves and bags in small domestic shops. These small shops offer you a friendly service and make your shopping experience even more enjoyable. Other traditional shopping areas are Avenida de Roma, Alvalade and Campo de Ourique. Shopping Centres The shopping malls of Amoreiras, Colombo, the largest shopping centre in the Iberian Peninsula and Vasco da Gama offer even more ranges of national and international shops. If you like department stores, you can also visit El Corte Inglês, a big department store where you find all sorts of famous brands. Lisbon by night Undoubtedly, this is a side of the city not to be missed: Lisbon's nightlife is generally considered to be amongst the best in Europe - the night in Lisbon starts at sunset and goes on till dawn. People in Lisbon love going out, and the city has different areas with various styles of restaurants and bars where one can go to. Lisbon's bars, theatres and discos add spice to life in the city after dark. At night, the city's old quarters come alive with the sound of fado singing and guitar-playing, the musical expression of the soul of Lisbon's inhabitants. The Fado Houses, where one can savor the excellent local cooking and listen to the emotional music of Lisbon, are unique. And yet, down the hill at the open air cafés, bars and discos reflect their lights in the calm waters of the River Tagus. Usually, a night out lasts until the next morning, given that most bars don't close until 2am and discos are open until 6am or

5 even later. The options and offers for a night out vary according to the individual's taste, but quality and fun are always guaranteed. There are four major areas you must consider when going out at night: Av. 24 de Julho (Alcântara, mainly bars and discos), Bairro Alto (plenty of restaurants, bars and discos), Docas (Doca de Alcântara, plenty of restaurants, bars and discos) and Parque das Nações (mainly restaurants and bars). Av. 24 de Julho is a long Avenue with many bars and discos, usually very busy at night and not very far from Docas. Bairro Alto has always been a favorite among nightlife lovers, and it has cultivated its own unique style over the years, which distinguishes it from other nightlife areas around the city especially because it is located in the oldest part of Lisbon. Here you will find restaurants that stay open until quite late, with a huge selection of typical Portuguese and international cuisine. Docas, is one of the liveliest nightlife areas in Lisbon. The scenario is beautiful and the many restaurants, bars, street cafés and discos by the river make a night out in Lisbon something really special. Finally, Parque das Nações, where the Expo 98 has been organized, is the most modern part of the city, with futuristic buildings and a great view to the river. Here you can find many trendy restaurants and bars with Portuguese and international cuisine. On this zone of the city there is also one disco. The History of Fado Fado is currently a world wide known symbol of Portugal, being represented for many years in foreign countries by Amália Rodrigues, and more recently by Dulce Pontes, Mariza and Katia Guerreiro, among others. Throughout the world, to the name of Portugal, there were two things immediately referred: the Fado and soccer. Although taking many forms, as it is sung differently in Porto, Coimbra and Lisbon, the Fado is, by self-earned right, the very expression of the Portuguese soul. Portugal, since the moment of its birth, emerged in a crossroad of cultures. This makes difficult to point out a precise origin of Fado, but all scholars agree that its origins go back many centuries, maybe even to times before the existence of Portugal as an independent country. The most commonly accepted explanation, at least when speaking about Lisbon Fado, is that it came from the songs of the Moors, which kept living near Lisbon even after the Christian take-over. The sadness and melancholy of those songs, that are so common in Fado, are a good base to explain the rhythms of Fado. However, there are those who say that the Fado came to Portugal, once more through Lisbon, under the form of Lundum, the music of the Brazilian slaves. By this explanation, it should have arrived to Portugal with the sailors returning from their long trips, approximately in the year of Only after a while, Lundum started modifying until it became the Fado. Supporting this belief is the fact that the first musics of the kind were related not only to the sea but also with the lands far beyond them, where the slaves lived. One can look as an example to one of Amália's song, called "The Black Boat", which talks precisely of a senzala (place where the slaves were kept).

6 Another possibility puts the birth of Fado back to the middle ages, to the time of the minstrels and the jesters. Already in that time one could find the characteristics that even today it conserves. For example, "cantigas de amigo" (friend songs), that were love songs for a woman, have great similarities with diverse subjects of the Fado of Lisbon. The love songs, that were sung by a man to a woman, seem to find kinship in the Fado of Coimbra, where the students intone their songs beneath the window of the loved one (serenades). We still have, in the same time, satire songs, or of disdain that are still today frequent themes for Fado, in social and political critics. Anyway, Fado seems to have first appeared in Lisbon and Porto, being later taken to Coimbra with the University students (since Coimbra was, during many years, the University city by excellence), and having there acquired different characteristics. Fado Houses in Lisbon: