Lisbon

The largest public square in Lisbon. Its location on the edge of the Tagus estuary made it a prominent foreign trading location. It was the original location of the Paços da Ribeira (Royal Ribeira Palace) until the palace was destroyed in the 1755 Lisbon earthquake. The area was rebuilt as a large public square and renamed Praça do Comércio (Square of Commerce) to indicate its new function. In 1908, Carlos I, the penultimate King of Portugal, was assassinated in the square.

The statue in the middle of Praça do Comércio is a monument to King José I. It was designed by Joaquim Machado de Castro, Portugal’s foremost sculptor of the time, and was dedicated in 1775.

The triumphal arch, the Arco da Rua Augusta, that opens on to Rua Augusta Street, was completed in 1873. The top features statues (by the French sculptor Calmels) of Glory (at the center), Ingenuity and Valor (depicted as an Amazon). The figures above the columns (made by Victor Bastos) are Nuno Alvares Pereira (a general of great reknown who was later canonized by Pope Benedict XVI) and Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo (1st Marquis of Pombal, who, among other things, was instrumental in rebuilding after the earthquake) on the right, and Vasco da Gama (the first explorer to link Europe and Asia by sea when he landed in India) and Viriatus, leader of the Lusitanian people (147 BC and 139 BC) who resisted Roman expansion into the region, on the left. The two recumbent figures represent the rivers Tagus and Douro. The statue in the middle is a monument to King José I. It was designed by Joaquim Machado de Castro, Portugal’s foremost sculptor of the time, and was dedicated in 1775.

The triumphal arch on Praça do Comércio, the Arco da Rua Augusta, that opens on to Rua Augusta Street, was completed in 1873. The top features statues (by the French sculptor Calmels) of Glory (at the center), Ingenuity and Valor (depicted as an Amazon). The figures above the columns (made by Victor Bastos) are Nuno Alvares Pereira (a general of great reknown who was later canonized by Pope Benedict XVI) and Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo (1st Marquis of Pombal, who, among other things, was instrumental in rebuilding after the earthquake) on the right, and Vasco da Gama (the first explorer to link Europe and Asia by sea when he landed in India) and Viriatus, leader of the Lusitanian people (147 BC and 139 BC) who resisted Roman expansion into the region, on the left. The two recumbent figures represent the rivers Tagus and Douro.

The statue in the middle of Praça do Comércio is a monument to King José I. It was designed by Joaquim Machado de Castro, Portugal’s foremost sculptor of the time, and was dedicated in 1775.

The Elevador Santa Justa was built in the early 1900s to transport people from the Baixa district up to the ruins of the Igreja do Carmo church, avoiding one of the area’s steepest hills. It was designed by Raul Mesnier de Ponsard, a student of Gustave Eiffel, designer of the Eiffel Tower. It was originally powered by steam but was converted to electricity in 1907.

Believe it or not, this is a prison

São Vicente (St. Vincent) statue, patron saint of Lisbon (the city’s patron saint) holding a boat with two ravens, the symbols of Lisbon. Located on the Miradouro das Portas do Sol (Viewpoint of the Gates to the Sun) in the Alfama district of Lisbon.

My hotel was down this dark alley.

Night view from Miradouro das Portas do Sol (Viewpoint of the Gates to the Sun)

Tram

The Remolado trams operating on this route originate from the 1930s and have been in operation ever since. While the cars remain original, there have been technological upgrades to the operating equipment.