Exploring Lisboa

Thursday, January 29, 2015
Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal
Today was to explore Lisbon (or Lisboa) in Portuguese. It didn't take me long to realize how little I knew about this corner of Europe. Lisboa is one of the oldest cities in Europe. It was first occupied by the Phoenicians, then the Greeks, Romans, Visogoths, and Celts, and Moors and finally became Portuguese. Its location on the Atlantic Ocean makes the climate very temperate, so winters are very mild. It was nice to see flowers blooming and trees laden with oranges. The original city was located on seven hills, but today has grown much beyond its original limits. It is an interesting mix of old and new, the people are proud of their history, and seem to have a love-hate relationship with their Spanish neighbors.

We began the day with a bus tour of the City, and our first stop of just up the street from our hotel, the Edward the VII Park . It provided a great view down Avenue da Liberdade, toward the river and the oldest part of the city. It also the site of the monument marking the Carnation Revolution on April 25, 1974, when the military peacefully ended the country's long dictatorship and restored democracy, and placed carnations in the barrels of their guns.

Our next stop was the Belem Tower, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This fortified tower has protected Lisbon from the bank of the Tagus River since the early 16th Century. It is an important example of the Manueline style of Late Gothic architecture which includes carvings of maritime themes.

Our next stop was the Monument to the Discoveries. A big reminder of how important the Portuguese were to the discovery of the New World. The monument was dedicated in 1960, the 500th anniversary of the death of Henry the Navigator, son of the King of Portugal and the person who began the voyages of discovery, which started down the coast of Africa and around the Cape of Good Hope . In addition to Henry, among the 30 people represented on the monument are Vasco de Gama, Magellen, other sailors, and writers, missionaries, a mapmaker, and one woman, Queen Felipa of Lancaster, who was Henry's mother and apparently the brains behind Henry's voyages. In front of the monument is a large mosaic of a compass containing a world may showing the routes and dates of the various voyages.

Close to he Discoveries Monument is the Jeronimos Monastery, another UNESCO World Heritage Site. Begun in 1501, and completed 100 years later, it was home to a Military-Religious Order, similar to the Knights Templar that was responsible for providing spiritual and material support to the seafarers who were sailing on the voyages of discovery. When the orders were dissolved in 1833, it was closed as a monastery, but the church remained open to serve the local community. It is the burial site of several kings and other members of the Portuguese royal family. It is also the site of the tomb of Vasco de Gama . It's style is a mixture of the Manueline style of architecture and the Renaissance style that followed it.

It had already been a very busy day, and wasn't even noon, but after our time in the Monastery, we were treated to a famous local pastry, Pasteis de Belem. According to local lore, when the monastery was closed one of the monks took a recipe for this special sweet, and gave it to family members who opened the local bakery where it is sold in 1837. The bakery is still owned by the same family and the recipe is still secret. Although similar pastries are sold throughout Lisbon, only those sold in Belem can use the Belem name. Since I later sampled similar pastries from other shopsand our hotel breakfast buffet, I know that they are not as good as the real thing.

Finally it was time for lunch, before leaving Lisbon, to visit the nearby town of Sintra. About the time of our departure, it began to rain and the fog came in . The closer we got to Sintra, the thicker the fog. Since our first stop was Pena Palace we headed up a very narrow mountain road, filled with switchbacks and barrier free steep drops it was a little scary. Our first stop was to walk in the palace gardens before touring the palace and the gardens it was not looking good. The decision was made to go straight to the palace, which involved leaving our tour bus and waiting for the small shuttle to take us to the top of the mountain. By the time we reached the top, it was raining hard and the fog was so thick that we couldn't see the top of the towers. However, it was hard to miss the bright yellow and red exterior of the 19th Century "fairy tale" palace built by King Ferdinand II, the Austrian consort of Queen Maria II. His only direction to the builder was that it reflect the Opera, and the result an amazing example of 19th Century Romanticism. Sadly, because of the fog and rain, I don't have any pictures of this fantastic building.

It's history is almost as interesting as the building . In the middle ages it was the site of a small chapel dedicated the the Virgin Mary. In 1493, after a visit by the King and Queen, as small monastery (no more than 18 monks) for the Order of Christ was added. The monastery was in ruints after the great earthquake of 1755, but the chapel received only minor damage. Ferdinand II acquired the property in 1838, and he and the Queen used it as a summer palace until her death. His second wife was Elise Hensler, an opera singer to whom he gave the title Countess of Edla, inherited the property on his death, but it was quickly repurchased by members of the royal family, and remained a favorite retreat until the King was overthrown and forced to flee to Brazil with his family in 1910. It is now part of a National Park, and a very popular attraction in Sintra.

It was still raining when we left the palace so our open horse-drawn carriage ride through Sintra was cancelled and instead we visited another palace, now Tivoli Palacio de Seteais, a very posh hotel for a very elegant afternoon tea and more pastries. Our final stop of the day was at a small restaurant in Sintra for a traditional dinner and a demonstration and discussion of Fado.

Comments

Marianne
2015-01-31

Pastries and palaces--my kind of day! Love all the old architecture, lots of interesting history lessons.

2025-02-11

Comment code: Ask author if the code is blank