Sunday 14 December 2014

Lisbon

Tourist Guide Lisbon - Places to See
Lisbon is the capital and largest city of Portugal


There are hundreds of places you should visit in Lisbon. Some are hidden in the narrow streets of the city, so the best thing to do is venture out and discover them! Full of ancient history and contemporary lifestyle, Lisbon perfectly combines the new and the old.

Down the Chiado and Bairro Alto, find some of the trendiest restaurants and bars in Lisbon. During the day the streets are filled with crowds animated to stroll through modern art museums, the designer shops, the art galleries, cafes or by the grocery stores that sell gourmet products.

From Low to Marques de Pombal Square will see a different Lisbon with theaters, train stations, cafes and large squares where a walk. Head to Bethlehem to see the majestic Jeronimos Monastery, the famous Tower of Belém and the many museums that surround it. Do not forget to taste the famous Pastel de Belém.

Chiado
Chiado is one of the most emblematic and traditional neighborhoods of Lisbon. Located between Bairro Alto and Baixa.


In 1856, with the creation of the literary guild, a club of intellectuals of the time, Chiado became the center of Portuguese Romanticism, obligatory passage point for those who want to be known in the city. The writer Eca de Queiroz in his work "The Maya" did great reference to Chiado and the Literary Club.





Bairro Alto 
The Bairro Alto was born as a response to the social and economic transformation in Lisbon in the second half of the 15th century.[1] Commercial development caused the growth in the population, and an associated expansion of construction within the medieval walled city.[1] It was this phenomenon that resulted in the urbanization process of the Bairro Alto district, in two distinct phases.[1]
The first phase began in 1487, after the death of Guedelha Palaçano, an influential figure in the kingdom: his widow transferred lands situated on the western limit of the city to the King's equerry, Filipe Gonçalves.[1] The land rights for these lands were sold in 1498 to the nobleman Luís de Atouguia.
Between 1499 and 1502 various royal letters, signed by King Manuel, indicated that there was a need to demolish the balconies and verandas that occupied public spaces in the district. This was part of a package of legislative reforms issued to improve the image of the city. A similar royal charter in 1500, was issued with the objective of transforming the free lands that still existed with the old walls. These initiatives lead to the first urbanization, named Vila Nova do Olival (around 1502), situated around the old Convent of the Trinity, using a series of administrative tools and proceedings that would, later, be used in the creation of the Bairro Alto.[1]
In 1505, the construction of the new royal palace, resulted in the move of the Court to the riverfront, and extended the city until the Cais do Sodré.[1]
Around 1513, the first move to divide the lands of the Bairro Alto began, under the approval of Lopo Atouguia. Bartolomeu de Andrade and his wife Francisca Cordovil received permission to section-off plots for the construction of houses.[1] The new urbanization would be designated Vila Nova de Andrade. After the establishment of a grid network of roads, the first houses began to be built, with the majority popping-up south of the Portas de Santa Catarina in 1514. The remainder of the homes also began occupying plots along Rua das FloresRua do CaboRua do Castelo, the consecutively namedRua PrimeiraSegunda and Terceira, in addition to the Rua da Barroca do Mar. By 1527, there were a total of 408 buildings in the area, totalling 1600 inhabitants.





Baixa Lisboeta
The Pombaline Lower Town (Baixa Pombalina,  or Baixa) area covers about 235,620 square metres of central Lisbon, Portugal. It comprises the grid of streets north of the Praça do Comércio, roughly between the Cais do Sodré and the Alfama district beneath the Lisbon Castle, and extends northwards towards the Rossio and Figueira squares and the Avenida da Liberdade, a tree-lined boulevard noted for its tailoring shops and cafes.
The Pombaline Baixa is an elegant district, primarily constructed after the 1755 Lisbon earthquake. It takes its name from Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo, 1st Marquess of Pombal, the Prime Minister to Joseph I of Portugal from 1750 to 1777 and key figure of the Enlightenment in Portugal, who took the lead in ordering the rebuilding of Lisbon after the 1755 earthquake. The Marquis of Pombal imposed strict conditions on rebuilding the city, and the current grid pattern strongly differs from the organic streetplan that characterised the district before the Earthquake.
The Pombaline Baixa is one of the first examples of earthquake-resistant construction. Architectural models were tested by having troops march around them to simulate an earthquake. Notable features of Pombaline structures include the Pombaline cage, a symmetrical wood-lattice framework aimed at distributing earthquake force, and inter-terrace walls that are built higher than roof timbers to reduce fire contagion.
It was placed on Portugal's "tentative list" of potential World Heritage Sites on 7 December 2004, which declares it superior to the planned areas in Edinburgh, Turin and London; in particular, the submission states that the plans for the reconstruction of London after the Great Fire in 1666 "does not implement overall principles" like those achieved in the Pombaline.


Praca Marques de Pombal
The Marques de Pombal Square is an important square of Lisbon, Portugal. It is situated between the Avenida da Liberdade and Eduardo VII Park. In the center stands the monument to the Marquis of Pombal, opened in 1934.
It was here that took place the decisive events that led to the proclamation of the Portuguese Republic on 5 October 1910.



Belem
Belém whose name is derived from the Portuguese word for Bethlehem, is the southwesternmost civil parish of the municipality of Lisbon. Many of Portugal's distinctive buildings and landmarks are located in this area, including the Jerónimos Monastery and the Tower of Belém.



Castelo de Sao Jorge
The Castelo de São Jorge is located in the parish of St. Mary Major (Castle) in the city and county of Lisbon in Portugal. The current name derives from the castle devotion to St. George, patron saint of knights and the Crusades, made by order of John I in the century XIV.1
In the context of the Christian Reconquest of the Iberian peninsula, after the conquest of Santarém, the forces of Dom Afonso Henriques (1112-1185), with the help of Norman Crusaders, Flemish, German and English on their way to the Holy Land, attacked this Muslim fortification, which capitulated after a hard siege of three months (in 1147), as narrated in the manuscript "de expugnatione Lyxbonensi" letter written by an English crusader who took part in the conquest. A legend arose later states that the knight Martim Moniz, who had distinguished himself during the siege, realizing one of the castle doors ajar, sacrificed his life to bring his own body in vain to prevent its closure by the Moors and allowing access and the victory of the companions.




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