Lisbon Weekly Photo

São Vicente de Fora and Pantheon

2008-08-24T22:30:00.006Z

This picture was taken from Largo Portas do Sol. The two illuminated buildings are and the National Phanteon (mentioned before) and the Church of São Vicente de Fora (meaning “Monastery of St. Vincent Outside the [city] Walls”). The original monastery, built around 1147, was dedicated to the patron saint of Lisbon: Saint Vincent of Saragossa (from the Aragon region of Spain).

Chapitô

2008-07-12T21:54:00.021Z

Chapitô is a cultural association that promotes performing arts like circus, animation, dance, multimedia, etc. Established in 1981, it grew and developed the space, the company and it's activities. It integrates a terrace, a restaurant, a library and a documentation center. According to Teresa Ricou, the President, “Chapitô is a box big enough to get us all, anchored in the solidarity of the party, and small enough to house each of us.”

I only know the restaurant and the terrace but I can assure it’s one the best places in town to spend a few hours enjoying a drink and a chat with friends. Besides, it has the most sympathetic waitresses in town (and the prettiest too, lol).

The colorful terrace

The fabolous view from the inside bar

See it in Google Maps or in bird's eye at Microsoft Virtual Earth

O Terraço

2008-06-29T22:45:00.006Z

It’s simply called “Terrace” cause it’s in the terrace of Chão do Loureiro Market. The second hand sofas, the colored chairs and the awesome view create a unique and very relaxed atmosphere. Undoubtedly the best place in the city to enjoy a fresh drink and a toast while watching the sunset. I must thank my friend Eunice for pointing it out to me.

See it in Google Maps or in bird's eye at Microsoft Virtual Earth

Summer: Day 1

2008-06-21T21:20:00.013Z

After a long absence, I'd like to celebrate the summer very beginning with a picture I took today with my cell phone in one of my favorite places: Praia da Torre

If work allows it, I'll try to update more often.

See it in Google Maps

Mosteiro dos Jerónimos

2007-10-07T22:24:00.000Z

The Hieronymites Monastery (Mosteiro dos Jerónimos) is undoubtedly the most important monument of Lisbon. In 1496 King D.Manuel I ask the Holy See permission to built a huge Monastery at the gates of Lisbon next to the Tagus River. In 1501 the construction began and took about 100 years. The monument was built at the same site of the Ermida do Restelo, a hermitage where Vasco da Gama spent his last night praying with his men before departing to India.

Picture take from the Padrão dos Descobrimentos

The magnificent inside of the Monastery with a wedding taking place.

The Cloisters...

See it in Google Maps

Galerias Romanas

2007-09-30T21:58:00.001Z

The Roman Galleries in downtown Lisbon were only discovered after the great 1755 earthquake. They are opened to the public just once a year because they’re permanently submerged and the absence of water for a longer period could affect their stability. The access is done precisely in the middle of the street with the trams passing in both directions. The galleries (dated from the 1st century BC to the 1st century AC) are considered part of a “criptopórtico”, underground galleries built in unstable lands to support the main buildings and also used as temporary storage.

Praça dos Restauradores

2007-09-09T22:08:00.000Z

Restauradores Square, along with Rossio, is the heart of the city downtown. A few days ago, I went there and found this CTT ad about their campaign "Descubra um novo mundo" (Discover a new world) very curious. CTT is the Portuguese postal service company.

See it in Google Maps

CCB - Centro Cultural de Belém

2007-07-27T23:21:00.000Z

To celebrate one year of Lisbon Weekly Photo I chose the CCB - Centro Cultural de Belém (Belém Cultural Center). It is the largest cultural related building in Portugal and was built between 1989 and 1992. At the time, the project raised a lot of criticism because a small country like Portugal shouldn’t afford such cost. Those issues are gone and it is now not only unanimous but also a reason of proud for the city.

See it in Google Maps

Padrão dos Descobrimentos

2007-07-01T14:35:00.000Z

The Monument to the Discoveries was built in 1940 for the Portuguese World Fair that celebrated both the foundation of Portugal (1140) and the Independence Restoration (1640). Since the original monument was built in wood and other perishable materials, it was rebuilt in 1960 in concrete to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the death of Henry the Navigator. He’s the figure at the tip of the monument, facing the river. Behind, there are 30 statues of great people of that era.

The Wind Rose on the pavement, seen from the top of the 52 meter monument, was a gift from South Africa (which also sponsored its restoration in 1994).

See it in Google Maps

Cais do Sodré

2007-06-15T23:18:00.000Z

Although its official name is Duque da Terceira Square, everybody knows it by Cais do Sodré. It’s one the most important transport interface of the city. There we can take a ferry to Tagus left bank, a train to Estoril or Cascais or the subway or bus for any spot in Lisbon. Duque da Terceira was a hero in the Peninsular War that united Portugal, Great Britain and later Spain against France (more on that in a future post).

See it in Google Maps

Praia da Torre

2007-06-03T16:42:00.000Z

When the weather gets warmer Torre Beach in Carcavelos is one the first places to get crowded. Anyway, the Carruagem Bar, an old train carriage converted into a bar, is always a nice place to lunch or have a drink just over the sea. Forte de São Julião da Barra, a 16th century fortress, is visible on the right.

See it in Google Maps

Rock in Rio Lisboa: One year from now

2007-05-27T02:21:00.000Z

Rock in Rio was created by Roberto Medina. The event had 3 editions in Brazil (1985, 1991 and 2001) and was then named Rock in Rio for a Better World. The name was due to the fact that some of its revenue was used in social projects in Rio de Janeiro.
When Roberto Medina decided to bring the festival to Europe, Portugal was the natural choice and, just before Euro 2004, we had the 4th edition: Rock in Rio Lisboa. In 2006 we had the 5th edition and today, the countdown to Rock in Rio Lisboa 2008 started with a fantastic fireworks show that ended with a 2Km waterfall fireworks.

The begin

The waterfall very beginning

The waterfall vanishing

Rua do Loreto

2007-05-20T23:20:00.000Z

This is Rua do Loreto, just next to the Camões Square (on the left). To the right there’s Bairro Alto, one the most animated districts of the Lisbon night with lots of great restaurants (with or without Fado) and Bars for every taste.

See it in Google Maps

Maternidade Dr Alfredo da Costa

2007-05-11T23:31:00.000Z

A Maternity Hospital might seem a strange post but a few days ago, I was walking down the Fontes Pereira de Melo Avenue and, although I know the place for “centuries” (my sister was born there), I noticed how nice that building is. The Maternity was inaugurated in 1932 and was built over an old temple. About 6000 lisboners give birth there every year.

See it in Google Maps

Estoril Open

2007-04-28T18:49:00.000Z

As a Tennis fanatic (which doesn't translate into skills) I couldn't miss the most important Tennis event held in Portugal: Estoril Open (April 28 to May 6). This year four ATP Top 10 Star confirmed their participation: Nikolay Davydenko (4th), Fernando Gonzalez (5th), Novak Djokovic (7th), Andy Murray (10th).

Technically, the Estádio Nacional it's not in Lisbon (it's about 3 miles of the city limit). It includes the National Football Stadium, several football fields, swimming pools, tennis courts, etc. It’s a very pleasant place to spend a Weekend morning.

update: Unfortunately the British tennis sensation, Andy Murray, didn’t recovered from a back injury and won’t be able to go to Estoril. The Spanish Tommy Robredo (ATP 5th), who reached the final in 2005 and the semifinals in 2003, has replaced Murray.

Playing with my friends Carlos Matos (who took the last picture), João and Jorge.

What do you mean “Out”?

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Jardim Botânico II

2007-04-20T22:23:00.000Z

The Lisbon Botanical Garden (a section of the National Museum of Natural History) was planted between 1858 and 1878 and is currently one of the best in Europe. Right in the heart of city, with an area of 4 ha (10 acre), it's one of the most pleasant places to spend a hot afternoon. After reading an excerpt of C.N.Tavares work (Historia do Jardim Botânico da Faculdade de Ciências de Lisboa), I must point out the importance of two names in its history: Count Ficalho and Prof. Andrade Corvo.

See it in Google Maps

Docas

2007-04-11T21:43:00.000Z

In the 90s the Lisbon Port Authorities decided to requalify some of their riverside properties. The old warehouses were converted into some of best bars and restaurants in the city. In a privileged area, near the Bridge and the quay, the Docas (docks) are one of the most popular places in the Lisbon's extensive nightlife.

Note: After uploaded, the blogger resized pictures are a bit "burned". The enlarged versions look much better.

See it in Google Maps

Praça do Comércio

2007-04-01T18:57:00.000Z

The Praça do Comércio (Commerce Square) is located near the Tagus River and is commonly known as Terreiro do Paço (Palace Square), because it was the location of the Royal Ribeira Palace. In 1755 the great Lisbon Earthquake followed by tsunami and fire destroyed most of the city including the Palace. King José I's Prime Minister, the Marquês de Pombal, coordinated a massive rebuild that gave the square a regular rational arrangement in line with the new Pombaline Downtown (Baixa).
The Augusta Street Arch was only finished in the 19th century. In the top there are sculptures by Calmels representing Glory crowning Genius and Value. The lower, by Vitor Bastos, are Nuno Álvares Pereira, Viriato, Vasco da Gama and Marquês de Pombal.

The bronze statue of King José I was the first monumental statue dedicated to a King in Lisbon and was designed by Joaquim Machado de Castro, Portugal's most important sculptor of the time.

See it in Google Maps

Campo de Santa Clara

2007-03-25T21:29:00.000Z

Campo de Santa Clara (nothing to do with Ame's Santa Clara in California) is the place where Lisbons Flea Market takes place every Tuesday morning and all day Saturday: Feira da Ladra. It's one of the most interesting and beautiful zones of the city. In the neighborhoods we can find the National Pantheon, Santa Clara Market (the oldest indoor market in the city still standing), São Vicente de Fora Church, etc.

Lisbon Half Marathon

2007-03-18T17:38:00.000-01:00

The 17th edition of the International Lisbon Half Marathon took place this Sunday. To most of the 36.000 participants (this blogger included) it was an excuse to cross the 25 de Abril Bridge. No doubt it was worthwhile.

Sé de Lisboa

2007-03-08T23:02:00.000-01:00

A downtown’s gray Saturday morning with the “Sé Catedral de Lisboa” as a background. The Lisbon Cathedral is the oldest church in the city. Initially called Santa Maria Maior, its construction, in the place of the main mosque of Lisbon, started in 1147 after the crusaders conquered Lisbon to the Moors. The first bishop was an English crusader named Gilbert of Hastings.

Lunar Eclipse

2007-03-04T00:21:00.000-01:00

This night the Moon passed through the Earth's shadow creating a Lunar Eclipse. It was fully visible here in Portugal (as in the rest of Europe) and will be partly visible over eastern Americas.
The next Lunar Eclipse will occur this year on the 28th August.

Beautifull sequence taken in Riad (Saudi Arabia) and posted by Publico newspaper

Panteão Nacional

2007-02-25T23:20:00.000-01:00

The Church of Santa Engrácia is a 17th century monument converted into the National Pantheon in the 20th century. The construction of the current building began in 1681 and it substituted previous collapsed churches dedicated to Saint Engrácia (a martyr of the city of Braga). When João Antunes, the royal architect, died in 1712, King D.João V concentrated his efforts in the Convent of Mafra and the church was left unfinished until the 20th century (the dome was added in 1966). This is the reason why the expression "Obras de Santa Engrácia" (Saint Engrácia's works) became a Portuguese synonym for long unfinished works. The personalities buried here include the Presidents Manuel de Arriaga, Teófilo Braga, Sidónio Pais and Óscar Carmona, writers Almeida Garrett and Guerra Junqueiro and fado singer Amália Rodrigues. There are cenotaphs to Luís de Camões, Nuno Álvares Pereira and Vasco da Gama, among others. This picture of the Phanteon dome was taken from Portas do Sol Square in Alfama in a July afternoon.

See it in Google Maps

Darkness

2007-02-09T21:37:00.000-01:00

This could be Lisbon by Night but, unfortunately, has nothing to do with it. This is how I'm feelling in this sad day in which my dear good friend and colleague José Morais passed away.
May he rest in peace.

Praça do Município

2007-02-03T19:08:00.000-01:00

The Praça do Município is a downtown square where the city hall is located (not visible in the picture). In the center of the square there's an XVIII century pillory of unknown author.

See it in Google Maps

Alfama

2007-01-20T12:32:00.000-01:00

Alfama was settled by the Romans and Visigoths. The Moors gave it the atmosphere and the name. In a reference to the hot springs found in the area, the name Alfama comes from alhama which means "hot baths" in Arab.

25 de Abril Bridge (also in a foggy day)

2007-01-14T21:41:00.000-01:00

In 1953 a government commission started working in a proposal to build a bridge over the Tagus River. The process went ahead and the winner of the international bid was a consortium headed by the United States Steel Export Company. The construction began on 5th November 1962 and 45 months later, on the 6th August 1966, the bridge was inaugurated. The bridge was built by the American Bridge Company (part of the winning consortium) and eleven local companies. At the time of its completion, the bridge was the world's largest suspended bridge outside the USA and had the world's longest continuous truss and deepest foundation. The 25 de Abril Bridge is often compared to the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco because it was built by the same company and because it is located near a tectonic fault in an area with a long history of earthquakes.

For the sharp eye...

See it in Google Maps

Vasco da Gama Bridge (in a foggy day)

2007-01-10T21:19:00.000-01:00

The Vasco da Gama Bridge enables north-south traffic to bypass Lisbon. It was inaugurated on the 4th of April 1998 and is the longest bridge in Europe with its 17,2 Km (10.7 mi), 10 Km (6.2 mi) of which over the Tagus River. It got its name on the year of 500th anniversary of the discovery (by Vasco da Gama) of the sea route from Europe to India. The bridge was designed to hold up to an earthquake 4.5 times stronger than the 1755 Lisbon earthquake (estimated at 8.7 on the Richter scale) that devastated Lisbon.

See it in Google Maps

Bairro Alto - Rua Serpa Pinto

2007-01-07T20:04:00.000-01:00

This is a view of the Serpa Pinto Street in the Bairro Alto area, one of the oldest districts of Lisbon. Serpa Pinto (1846-1900) was a explorer of the southern Africa and a colonial administrator. The Angolan village of Menongue was previously called Serpa Pinto.

See it in Google Maps

Lisbon, World

2007-01-01T22:39:00.000-01:00

Dear Friends,
When I started this blog on the 27th July I wasn't sure it would last long. I stated several times my skills with the camera were limited but it didn’t worry me because I just wanted to show a bit of Lisbon. Along these past 5 months I learned I knew nothing about my city, and finally understood why so many people from all over the world visit it. I met people, I made a few good friends, I saw great pictures from wonderful places (some of them so close like Sintra or Porto), etc.
I whish a great year of 2007 to the world in general but particularly to all the 2006 visitors I'm able to identify: Analia from Uruguay, Aphotoaday from Lisbon, Portugal, Jennifer Schaeffer from Lincoln, Nebraska, Jenny from Sharon, Connecticut, João Proença from Sintra, Portugal, José Carvalho from Portugal, LP from Portugal, Manuel Tendero from Spain, Marjan Hols-Reis from Holland (living in Portugal), Meg and Ben Nakagawa from Nelson, New Zealand, Mile Stone from UK (living in Portugal), Nuno from Porto, Portugal, Paul (Nikon) from Providence, Rhode Island, Photo-effe from Switzerland, Portellini from Portugal, Spartacus O'Neal from San Francisco, California and Thiên from Seguin, Texas.

Photo by Nick Yee

Déjà Vu

2006-12-21T22:03:00.000-01:00

According to Wikipedia, the term déjà vu describes the experience of feeling that one has witnessed or experienced a new situation previously. Well… not entirely new in this case…

The Christmas Tree in Praça do Comércio

Praça da Figueira this time colder and without the
nice Spanish tourists

Rossio once again and the small fountain (?)

Downtown in Christmas

2006-12-18T22:16:00.000-01:00

After an almost 3 week interregnum, that I'll try to avoid in the future, I'm back with a post that may seem a cliché, but that's inevitable. These pictures were taken in a walk between Rossio and Praça do Comércio last Saturday.

Rossio with the Dom Pedro IV statue and it's Christmas decoration

The Santa Justa Street and the Santa Justa Lift

Praça do Comércio and the 72m (236ft) Christmas Tree (Europe's tallest in parallel with Warsow)

Parque das Nações

2006-11-28T21:18:00.000-01:00

In 1998 Lisbon hosted the last World Exposition of the century, EXPO’98. It covered a total of 72,500 m2 where it received the 160 participants (146 countries and 14 international organizations). Their flags are still hoisted (on the right). On the left there’s the Pavilhão Atlântico. The Parque das Nações project covers 340 ha, including 5 Km riverside and the Olivais Dock, a 1940’s airport for hydroplanes.

See it in Google Maps

Rossio

2006-11-18T13:49:00.000-01:00

The Rossio Square is located in the Pombaline Downtown of Lisbon. During the 13th century the population expanded from the Castle and Rossio, which means something like "field without owner" in old Portuguese, became an important spot.

In the 19th century a column with the statue of King Pedro IV was erected and it was officially named Dom Pedro IV Square. At that time it received a new pavement in Portuguese mosaic (Calçada Portuguesa) and two bronze fountains imported from France.

The Santa Justa Lift, in the middle, and Carmo Covent, on the right, are also visible.

See it in Google Maps

Borboletarium

2006-11-10T22:20:00.000-01:00

Tomorrow the Europe's first Borboletarium (does this word exists?) will be inaugurated in Lisbon at the Botanic Garden. It will be permanently open to the public next Monday from 10h to 17h. There we can closely watch the several phases of the butterfly's life cycle, from the egg to the tiny caterpillars (larvae), later chrysalis and finally adult butterfly.
These Monarch butterflies (or Danaus plexippus) pictures were taken last September when the Borboletarium opened to the public for a day.

Lisbon center of Instituto Cervantes

2006-11-07T22:20:00.000-01:00

The Lisbon center of Instituto Cervantes organized a Symposium on the Spanish Civil War: crossing borders 70 years later. The exhibition "Correspondents on the Spanish Civil War" reflects, along the selected 30 chronicles, the evolution of the war from the point of view of the several authors.
The left panel shows excerpts of Hemingway's chronicles for "The New Republic" on the Teruel front. The right is about the Portuguese-American John dos Passos (for Esquire) and Martha Gellhorn (for Colliers) in Madrid at the Florida Hotel.Other names included in the exhibition are the Portuguese journalists Mário Neves, Félix Correia and Artur Portela, the French Antoine de Saint-Exupéry and the US journalist Jay Allen.

Note: Unfortunately I wasn't able to visit exhibition earlier. It'll end next Friday (November 10th).

Church of the Carmo Covent

2006-11-01T23:11:00.000-01:00

The church of the Carmo Covent was built in 1389 by Dom Nuno Alvares Pereira (Santo Condestável). On the 1st November 1755 a huge earthquake caused the collapse of most of the vault and the fire that followed it destroyed most of what remained.
A reconstruction attempt was abandoned in the 19th century "under the influence of the romantic taste for ruins".
The exhibited collection consists, mainly, of abandoned pieces of sculpture collected from monasteries vandalized during the French invasions (Peninsular War) and Liberal War.

Chiado (enhanced)

2006-10-27T23:40:00.000Z

After some friends contribution I've tried to enhance the Chiado photos.

Mannequin: Duplicate layer; Blend mode = multiply; Add Layer mask; Gradient tool from white to black starting at about the middle of the picture to bottom edge

Tuna: Duplicate layer; Blend mode = multiply (opacity = 30%); Crop

Chiado

2006-10-22T13:28:00.000Z

The mannequin, at Benetton's 1st floor, attentively observes Chiado Square through the window. Chiado is one of the tourist’s favorite spots in Lisbon and the locals are rediscovering it too, now that the devastating fire of 1988 is forgotten. The statue of the XVI century poet Antonio Ribeiro (nickname Chiado) is partially visible. The churches of Loreto (on the right) and Nossa Senhora da Encarnação (left) are also visible as the Camões Square and his statue at the back.

In a rain pause (that keeps falling for an entire week) a Tuna Académica is getting ready for another song. Tuna is the Portuguese name for a students' musical group (nothing to do with fish).

As stated before, the blogger's skills with the camera are limited, so he welcomes suggestions on what he should've done to enhance the quality of these pictures. The first photo was taken in house and the different light conditions in and out made it harder. Although the second was taken outside, the church still has some sharpness problems.

Miradouro da Graça

2006-10-15T12:23:00.000Z

This is a view from Miradouro da Graça right in the heart of the Graça district. This district was created after the 1755 earthquake with the extinction of the Santo André and Santa Marinha districts
The picture was taken last September while the second edition of the Luzboa Light Biennale was taking place, so some colored streets are noticeable.

October 5th, 1910

2006-10-05T01:05:00.000Z

In the October 5th, 1910 a revolution deposed King Manuel II and established the Portuguese First Republic. In fact, it all started the day before in Loures when a group of 8 persons appointed by the people proclaimed the republic and hoist the Republican flag. The new green and red flag (the Republican colors) was created in that same year and replaced the two versions of the previous blue and white flags (here and here).

note: although it was only applied “auto levels”, after uploaded, the image shows some previously inexistent pixilated effect in both sizes.

Look up to the sky

2006-10-01T23:42:00.000Z

The Lisbon city council organized, for the second year, the Mundial de Pirotecnia. This time at the Marina of Parque das Nações, Italy, Germany and United States of America had shown us their fireworks. Portugal (off competition) closed the show last Saturday. The winner of the competition was Germany that succeeded France, the winner of the first edition against Spain and Japan.

Lisbon in September

2006-09-24T18:22:00.000Z

This was a really special weekend. So many things were happening at the same time in the city that I didn't know what to post. I must say I had never experienced such great atmosphere in Lisbon as in this September.

We're having the second edition of the Luzboa Light Biennale with urban art interventions and lots of cultural events in public space. Here we have São Carlos Square in green and Camões Square in red.

Today the VII edition of Half Marathon of Portugal took place. As usual, it started in the middle of the Vasco da Gama Bridge with about 16000 participants and, as usual, the Kenyans didn't give a chance.

The European Heritage Journeys are also organizing lots of initiatives but unfortunately didn’t manage to attend any (see LDPs post).

The Mark

2006-09-17T23:10:00.000Z

The Portuguese Cardiology Society is promoting a campaign called The Mark to prevent cardiac diseases. There are 5000 paintings like this in sidewalks all over the country. Although Cancer and AIDS are more feared, cardiac disease is still the main cause of dead in western countries. From the beginning of the campaign (March 3rd) 19.100 persons died in Portugal of cardiac disease.
In The Mark is written: Don't be the next victim. Go to your doctor.

Praça de Figueira

2006-09-15T21:47:00.000Z

Two nice Spanish tourists coming from nowhere and fooling around with the “photographer” in an end summer night at Praça da Figueira.

José Alvalade Stadium

2006-09-12T23:42:00.000Z

This post may seem a "bit" out of context so I hope the visitors can forgive me. Although I'm not even a fan of this team, it happens that I live nearby the Stadium and felt that tonight's fantastic atmosphere deserved a photo. The picture was taken 10 minutes from the end, when Sporting was beating Inter Milan by 1-0 for the Champions League. Anyway, that was the final score.
Now, allez Porto... allez Benfica...

José Alvalade Stadium is the new home of Sporting Lisbon. It hosted several Euro 2004 matches (including one semi-final - Portugal vs Netherlands) and the 2005 UEFA Cup Final. It has an all-seater capacity of 52.000 and incorporates a shopping center, a bowling alley, a multiplex cinema and restaurants.

Botanic Garden

2006-09-11T00:16:00.000Z

Flowers... just flowers from Botanic Garden in this special day.

Water Gardens & Camões Theater

2006-09-08T23:41:00.000Z

The Water Gardens are one of the most pleasant spots in Parque das Nações (where the World-Wide Exhibition of Lisbon 1998 took place). The beautiful girl in the black dress is in a shooting session (with a real photographer). The big blue building in the back is the rear of the Camões Theater. It was built for the Expo98 and is now the Portuguese Symphonic Orchestra home.

ps: Perhaps I’m speaking too much. The real picture should be this with the caption "Beautiful girl in shooting session at Water Gardens."

Pavilhão Atlântico

2006-08-30T01:28:00.000Z

The Atlantic Pavilion was built for the World-Wide Exhibition of Lisbon 1998. It is a project of the Portuguese architect Regino Cruz associated with an international projectors company: Skidmore, Owing & Merril (Olympic Stadium in Manchester and Berlin, big sporting pavilions in USA like Portland, Philadelphia, Oakland or Minneapolis).

"Atlantic Pavilion shape reminds a spaceship… but its shape is also like a horseshoe crab, a species that appeared 200 millions years ago. A mixture between a marine animal and a spaceship, this shape deserved a structure that supported physically and symbolically its meaning. That’s how it came up the idea of a timbered structure to sustain the roof, resembling the inverted 16th century vessel hull. In a World Exposition that was dedicated to the Oceans and Portuguese Maritime Discoveries, the wood better than the steal or concrete was the ideal raw material."

The Pavilion has capacity for 20.000 persons and was inaugurated on November 10th, 1998 with a Massive Attack concert.
Events such as the MTV Europe Music Awards (2005), the Tennis Masters Cup Lisbon 2000 and concerts of Madonna, Shakira, REM, Eric Clapton, Coldplay, Robbie Williams, Ben Harper and Prince (among others) took place there.

Igreja de Santo Condestável

2006-08-14T00:31:00.000Z

The Santo Condestável Church, in Campo de Ourique, was dedicated do Dom Nuno Álvares Pereira (1360-1431). When, in search for the Portuguese independence, he won the Battle of Atoleiros against Spain, he was nominated Condestavel (Supreme Chief of the troops). The church was inaugurated 55 years ago (August 14th, 1951) and Almada Negreiros designed the vitrals, one of its attractions.

Basílica da Estrela

2006-08-08T12:49:00.000Z

Basilica da Estrela’s construction, between 1779 and 1790, was ordered by the Queen D.Maria I (known as The Merciful One) as a fulfillment of a promise. She promised to build a church if she would have a son man to inherit the throne. The child, however, would not live to see it because he would die of variola (smallpox) 2 years before its completion. The top offers one of the best views over Lisbon.

Eléctrico 28

2006-07-27T00:15:00.000Z

This is one of the remaining Lisbon Trams. They used to be all over the city. Now there are only 5 routes and about 50 trams left. Route 28 is probably the most popular since it crosses the quarters of Bairro Alto and Lisbon's oldest Alfama. This picture was taken in the Largo Portas do Sol in the unique atmosphere of Alfama.
The little cow on the left managed to escape the parade.