Lisboa

The Praça do Comércio, commonly known by its old name Terreiro do Paço, is a square in the downtown area of Lisbon, situated by the Tagus River. It was once the location of the palace of the kings of Portugal for about two centuries and is now partially occupied by some government departments. It is one of the largest squares in Europe, with an area of about 36,000 m² (180m x 200m), and is surrounded by 79 arches.

It is considered a historic symbol of political power and the manifestation of the capital in Portugal. This symbolism is generally associated with the centralism of the State.

In 1511, King Manuel I moved his residence from the São Jorge Castle to this location by the river. The Ribeira Palace, as well as its library of 70,000 volumes, were destroyed by the earthquake of 1755. In the reconstruction, coordinated by Eugénio dos Santos, the square became the fundamental element of the Marquês de Pombal's plan.

The buildings surrounding the square were, for decades, used by different ministries and other public institutions. Today, they are divided between government departments, cultural and promotional activities, hotels, restaurants, and cafes.

One of the buildings in the square is the famous Martinho da Arcada café, the oldest in Lisbon, and one of Fernando Pessoa's favorites.

After the 1910 Revolution, the buildings were painted pink. However, they recently returned to their original color, yellow. The south side, with its two square towers, faces the Tagus.

For a long time, it was the noble entrance to Lisbon, and on the marble steps of the Cais das Colunas, heads of state and other prominent figures were received upon their arrival from the river.

In the center of the square, you can see the equestrian statue of King D. José, erected in 1775 by Joaquim Machado de Castro, the main Portuguese sculptor of the eighteenth century.

On the north side of the square is the Triumphal Arch of Rua Augusta, the entrance to the downtown area.

The area served as a parking lot until the 1990s, but today, this vast space is used for cultural events and performances.

The National Sanctuary of Christ the King is located at an altitude of 133 meters above the level of the Tagus River. It is composed of a portal designed by architect António Lino, which is 75 meters high, topped by the statue of the Holy Redeemer with outstretched arms facing the city of Lisbon, measuring 28 meters in height, and made by the Portuguese sculptor Francisco Franco de Sousa. The pedestal, including the portal, rises to a height of 82 meters. The sanctuary and monument to Christ the King is the biggest tourist attraction in the municipality of Almada.

This monument is the best viewpoint with a view of the city of Lisbon, offering a wide view of the capital and the 25 de Abril Bridge. The sanctuary and monument to Christ the King, a symbol of Almada, often appears in numerous tourist reports about Lisbon.

It is one of the tallest constructions in Portugal, measuring 110 meters in height.

The 25th of April Bridge is a suspension road and railway bridge over the Tagus River, connecting the city of Lisbon (north bank) to the city of Almada (south bank), in Portugal. The bridge crosses the Tagus estuary at its final and narrowest part, known as the "throat" of the Tagus.

It is 2,277 meters long with a free span of 1,013 meters and is the 33rd largest suspension bridge in the world. The upper deck accommodates six road lanes (three in each direction), while the lower deck accommodates two electrified railway lines.

Plans for the construction of a bridge over the Tagus estuary have existed since the late 19th century; however, it was only in the 1950s that the Portuguese government of the Estado Novo regime started building a bridge to connect the two banks of the Lisbon metropolitan area. Construction began in November 1962 and lasted for four years. At least 20 workers lost their lives during the construction, far more than was announced at the time. It was inaugurated on August 6, 1966, with only a road deck. On July 29, 1999, the railway deck was opened. The 25th of April Bridge was concessioned to the private company Lusoponte in 1996, which was also tasked with building the Vasco da Gama Bridge. The concession for both bridges ends in March 2030.

Until 1974, the 25th of April Bridge was called the Salazar Bridge, named after the former dictator of Portugal. The name was changed to 25th of April Bridge to commemorate the revolution that took place on April 25, 1974.

The Monastery of Santa Maria de Belém, better known as the Jerónimos Monastery, is a Portuguese monastery built in the late 15th century by King Manuel I and was entrusted to the Order of St. Jerome. It is located in the parish of Belém, in the city and municipality of Lisbon. Since 2016, it has had the status of National Pantheon.

As the culmination of Manueline architecture, this monastery is the most remarkable Portuguese monastic complex of its time and one of the main hall-churches in Europe. Its construction began in the early 16th century and lasted for a hundred years, being directed by a remarkable group of architects/master builders (notably the decisive role of João de Castilho).

The Jerónimos Monastery has been classified as a National Monument since 1907 and, in 1983, it was classified as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, along with the Belém Tower. On July 7, 2007, it was elected as one of the seven wonders of Portugal. Closely linked to the Portuguese Royal House and the epic of the Discoveries, the Jerónimos Monastery was, from an early stage, "internalized as one of the symbols of the nation."

It is now one of the most important tourist attractions in Portugal, with a total of 807,854 visitors in 2014, 944,000 in 2015, and 1,166,793 in 2017.

The Tower of Belém, formerly known as the Tower of St. Vincent alongside Belém, officially the Tower of St. Vincent, is a fortification located in the parish of Belém, municipality and district of Lisbon, Portugal. On the right bank of the Tagus River, where the Belém beach once existed, it was originally surrounded by water on all sides. Over the centuries, it became surrounded by land as the shoreline expanded. One of the city's landmarks, the monument is an icon of the architecture of the reign of King Manuel I, a synthesis between the medieval keep tower tradition and the modern bastion, where artillery pieces were deployed.

Over time, the tower lost its function of defending the Tagus bar and, from the time of the Philippine occupation, the old storerooms gave way to dungeons. On the tower's four floors, the Governor's Hall, the Hall of the Kings, the Audiences Room, and finally, the Chapel with its characteristic 16th-century vaults, are still preserved. The Tower of St. Vincent (1514) belongs to a defensive formation of the Tagus basin ordered to be built by King João II of Portugal, composed to the south by the tower of St. Sebastian of Caparica (1481) and to the west by the Tower of St. Anthony of Cascais (1488).

The monument stands out for its implicit nationalism, as it is entirely surrounded by decorations of the coat of arms of Portugal, including inscriptions of the crosses of the Order of Christ on the bastion windows. These characteristics mainly refer to the typical architecture of a time when the country was a global power (the beginning of the Modern Age).

Together with the Jerónimos Monastery, it was classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983 and was elected as one of the Seven Wonders of Portugal in 2007. In 2015, it was visited by more than 608,000 tourists.

The monument was initially conceived by Cottinelli Telmo as a tribute to Prince Henry the Navigator, following several projects and competitions for Sagres that had been carried out over the years without any being constructed. For the Portuguese World Exhibition of 1940 - of which Cottinelli Telmo was chief architect - it was transformed into the Monument of the Discoveries, celebrating not only the Prince but also his collaborators and followers. Conceived by Cottinelli Telmo and the sculptor Leopoldo de Almeida (author of the statuary) for this great exhibition, the initial monument was constructed in the short space of eight months using perishable materials. It was dismantled in 1958 and rebuilt in the following years in concrete and Lioz stone, by decision of Salazar who, on the occasion of the 5th centenary of the Prince, overrode the result of yet another henriquinian competition for Sagres (won in 1955 by a remarkable project by a team formed by João Andresen, Barata Feyo and Júlio Resende). The Monument of the Discoveries would be erected at the original location in Belém, with a lower budget than that of the competition.

Considered an emblematic piece of the Portuguese World Exhibition, "the cry of the exhibition and a synthesis of our glorious past" (guide of the time), the Monument of the Discoveries was widely praised (Fernando de Pamplona, Ocidente, 1941; Costa Lima, Brotéria; etc.), even by dissenting voices like that of Adriano de Gusmão (O Diabo, 16-11-1940), who already at that time wished, like others, to see it "forever transposed into marble or granite". Erected in its definitive form, somewhat out of time, aesthetically out of step with the evolution of the arts in the twenty years that had passed, the current monument was inaugurated in 1960 in the context of the commemorations of the five hundred years of the death of Prince Henry the Navigator.

In 1985, the interior was refurbished, equipping the Monument with a viewpoint, auditorium and exhibition halls. The Monument was then inaugurated as the Cultural Center of the Discoveries.

Pastéis de nata or pastéis de Belém are one of the most popular Portuguese sweet specialties inspired by Conventual cuisine. Although you can enjoy pastéis de nata in many cafes and pastry shops, the original recipe is produced by the Fábrica dos Pastéis de Belém in Lisbon (the only place where the sweets should be called pastéis de Belém). Traditionally, pastéis are eaten while still hot, sprinkled with powdered sugar and/or cinnamon.

This can lead to some confusion between the two, to be more precise, pastéis de Belém are a style of pastel de nata, just as there are other variations both in Portugal and around the world, especially in Brazil, Macau, Hong Kong, Singapore, or Taiwan.

In 1837, in Belém, near the Jerónimos Monastery, the monastery's clerics put some pastéis de nata up for sale in an attempt to make a living. At that time, Belém and Lisbon were two distinct locations with access assured by steamboats. The presence of the Jerónimos Monastery and the Belém Tower attracted numerous tourists who helped to spread the pastéis de Belém.

Following the liberal revolution of 1820, in 1834, the monastery closed. The convent's pastry chef decided to sell the recipe to the Portuguese businessman from Brazil, Domingos Rafael Alves, and it has remained in the possession of his descendants to this day.

Initially, the pastéis were sold at a sugar refinery located near the Jerónimos Monastery. In 1837, the facilities were inaugurated in an annex, which was then transformed into a pastry shop called "A antiga confeitaria de Belém". Both the original recipe and the name "Pastéis de Belém" are patented.