Lisbon, the capital of Portugal is the largest westernmost city in Europe. It lies in the western Iberian Peninsulaver, on the Atlantic Ocean and the beautiful Tagus River which we sail into to reach our port stop. Before we arrived in Portugal we passed by and around the famed Rock of Gibraltar - it looks just like that; a huge rock in the ocean but many people do choose to live on it today. We watched as the coast guard and immigration officials boarded our ship, as they do at all ports, to clear passengers for entry into the country.
Lisbon has a warm climate with mild winters, and warm to hot summers so it is a very popular tourist spot for British and European people all year round. We found it very hot with tempratures rising to 35C at the moment because Europe and other countries are having heatwave conditions at the moment.(a very unusual occurrence - maybe a climate change indicator!)
History: The Phoenicians who were skilled rulers and explorers of the sea are consider the most likely founders of Lisbon, as early as 1200 BC but Lisbon has been occupied by many different rulers over the years and evidence of some of their influences can be seen in the architecture of some of the buildings and the archaeological displays in museums throughout Lisbon. The Romans occupied the city of Olisspo ( Lisbon) in 205 BC. By 500 AD the Visogothic Kingdom ruled almost all of Spain. The Islamic Moors ruled from 714-114 the city was known as Lissabona and change to Lisbon when Christian forces recaptured it in 1147.
Throughout the 15th and 16th centuries Lisbon flourished as a trading centre and carried out many successful maritime exploratory expeditions. Then in 1755 a massive earthquake and tsunami destroyed two thirds of the buildings in the city, but within less than a year major areas of the city had been rebuilt in the new Gothic Revival style that we see today. However, a few treasured buildings did survived this distarious catastrophe. They include the Alfama district where buildings still retain their charm of whitewashed, red-roofed Moorish architecture and labyrinthine streets, the Belem Tower and the Jeronimos Monastery now a museum.
The French influence of the occupation of Napolian's forces from 1807 to 1811 can also be seen in some of the building styles today.
We had not organise a tour around Lisbon and as 'everything' in the city seemed close we decided to use the red hop-on-hop-off bus and follow the audio information as we learnt about the history and highlights of Lisbon city. Lisbon is spread across steep, dramatic hillsides that are covered in charming stone houses, many have been decorated in brightly-painted staco (cement rendering) colours and the effect gives a vibrant vitality to the city.
Lisbon has impressive cathedrals, Gothic monasteries, markets, cafes, cobbled streets, cafes, castles, parks, tree lined boulevards and a beautiful coastline. We decided to do one full loop route on the hop-on-hop-off bus, without getting off, so that we'd get a good overview of Lisbon. We passed many monuments and open parkland, numerous buildings portraying architectural styles from past rulers and modern 21 century constructions. Here are a few of the things we saw:
The Moorish-style bull-ring: was built in 1892 looked impressive with its' blue domes, Arabian-inspired widows and bright red facade. The bull-ring stadium can a ccommodate 9000 spectators and the big difference between Spanish bull fighting is that the Portuguese do not kill their bulls but bring them to their knees which is much more humane, I guess.
The striking Belem Tower which we'd first seen from the ship: sits directly on the Tagus river but we stopped near it when we left the bus to visit a museum. The Belem Tower is a four-storey richly carved 16th century fortress built to defend the harbour. It was also a lighthouse and later use as a prison and it was the starting point of many voyages of discovery, including Vasco da Gama's epic journey to India around the trip of Africa. The tower still looks grand today.
We'd passed under the impressive 25th of April Bridge which has a span of 2.4 kilometres as we berthed early in the morning but we also saw it on our bus tour. It was built, using the same engineering principles used for San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge. The name of this bridge refers to the month in1974 when a bloodless revolution restored democracy to Portugal. The breathtaking Jeronimous Monastery which survived the 1755 quake also stands parallel to the river and within walking distance to the Belem Tower. It is considered Lisbon's finest landmark. It is a beautiful and exceptional piece of architecture and boasts two-storey cloisters and ornate arches. It now houses a Maritime Museum which has a wonderful display of original maps, nautical instruments that date back to the Middle Ages, statues of Henry the Navigator, Vasco de Gama's and Ferdinand Magellan among others.
We spent over 2 hours in this very well displayed and informative museum which houses an amazing 17000 nautical items from the Middle Ages to the 19th century.
The Barge Museum which is part of this exhibition lies in an adjacent building and its' exhibits were also astounding. We were fascinated by the original (very ornate) maps and nautical instruments, paintings and models of famous galleons, riggers and Spanish ships. There was a room which displayed the history of sea captains and sailor uniforms since the 1700's. The barge museum's vessels were amazingly preserved and filled two massive halls. The were built in the 1700's for kings and their families. The princesses' barge was beautifully upholstered with a curtained canopy. She used her gentile barge for leisurely activities or entertaining close friends and she had 20 rowers to ferry her wherever she bade them. Other wooden barges belonging to the King were beautifully decorated and carved works of art in their own right. They had up to 40 rowers employed in ferrying the King and his consorts around. The rowers rowed in pairs or in triplets and sometimes sang melodies to keep in time. What a splendid sight they would have been.
Ken has always beesn interested in maps and navigating so he throughly enjoyed this unexpected visit. To top it off he found a wonderful globe of the world which names cities and countries and doubles as a lamp as it can illuminate a room. We had a late afternoon tea at the
museum cafe and of course it had to be coffee and a Portuguese tart; a small very rich custard tart, just like the ones sold all over Lisbon. Ken thought it was great but I thought it was very sweet so I'd probably not sample another this holiday.
We saw the modern Monument to the Discoveries which is also on the banks of the Tagus within sight of the Martime Museum. It was constructed in the honour of the great 15th and 16th explorers and is shaped like the prow of a sailing ship and is dedicated to Potprtugal's greatest seafarers, Vasco de Gama's and Ferdinand Magellan among others.
We had had a full day of sightseeing and topped it off by walking back down through the 250 year old Avenue of Liberty, a wide boulevard lined with palm trees, ponds and benches which is over 1200 metres from the city centre to the foreshore. It has 10 lanes divided by the pedestrian tree lined pavements where buskers, flower sellers, small cafes and park benches have be placed among beautiful garden displays. It was early evening with birds settling back in the trees, traffic ferrying people home or out to dinner but it was still warm. We enjoyed looking at the decorative black-lava and white limestone pavement patterns on the pedestrian walkway but when we came to a plaza area we were mesmerised by the crazy 3D decorative black-lava and white limestone pattern that made us think we were walking in channels. A little further on we stopped to listen to an acapela choir singing in the square and then headed for the ship. Tired but with a little more appreciation of the beautiful, sunny port city of Lisbon - starting point of a point of Vasco de Gama's epic voyage of discovery so long ago.
