Museu d’Artilheria (p. [14]), on week-days 10–3, free.
Museu Nacional das Bellas Artes (p. [14]), Sun., Thurs., and holidays, 11–4, free; on other days 12–2, by leave of the director obtained through the attendant. When the main door is closed the entrance is to the left, through the gateway of the barracks and the garden.
Museu Nacional dos Coches (p. [14]), daily, exc. Frid., 12–5, free.
Visitors having only a few hours at their disposal on land should avail themselves of one of the circular tramway-lines (p. [7]) to obtain a general survey of the town. The Graça Church (p. [13]; *View) should be visited in the morning (‘Graça’ tramway); in the afternoon, Alameda de São Pedro de Alcántara (p. [11]) or Estrella Church (p. [12]). The trip to Belem (p. [14]) should on no account be omitted.
Two Days. 1st. Forenoon: Praça do Commercio and Rocio (pp. [10], 11); Avenida da Liberdade (p. [11]); *Alameda de São Pedro de Alcántara (p. [11]); *Botanic Garden (p. [11]); Estrella Church (p. [12]; *View). Afternoon: Belem (p. [14]).—2nd. Excursion to *Cintra (p. [15]), requiring at least half a day.—Bull-fights, see p. [8].
Lisbon, Portuguese Lisbóa, the capital of the new republic of Portugal (comp. p. [10]), the see of an archbishop, a fortress, and also an important commercial city, with 357,700 inhab., lies in 38° 42′ N. lat. and 9° 11′ W. long., on the broad Bay of the Tagus, which forms an excellent harbour just above the comparatively narrow (1–2 M.) mouth of the river (see p. xxix). The town rises in picturesque terraces, affording many charming views, while the luxuriance of its public gardens is almost unrivalled in Europe. Lisbon is certainly a very beautiful city, and its ardent admirers have compared it even with Naples and Constantinople.
The town, which is girdled by the Estrada da Circumvallação, a road 5 M. long, consists of several quarters. On the E. lies the old town, or Lisboa Oriental, on the slope of the Collina do Castello. On the low ground between the old town and the new is the Cidade Baixa, which has sprung up since the earthquake of 1755. To the W. is Lisboa Occidental, the modern quarter. Along the Tagus extend quays and docks, constructed in 1887, and, after a serious collapse, restored in 1894–1905. The harbour is entered by 5000 vessels annually, one-third of them being under the British flag, one-tenth under the French, and one tenth under the German. The Portuguese vessels are chiefly engaged in trading with the country’s African colonies and with S. America.
The ancient name of Lisbon was Ulisipo or Olisipo, which led early Greek travellers and scholars to connect the place, but erroneously, with the legends of Ulysses. Under the Romans, thanks to its splendid harbour, it ranked as the second city in Lusitania, and alternately with Mérida, the capital, was frequently the residence of the Roman governors. From 407 to 585 it was occupied by the Alans, and from 585 to 715 by the Visigoths, and after the battle of Veger de la Frontera (711) it fell into the hands of the Moors, who called it Aloshbuna or Lishbuna. In 1147 it was retaken by king Affonso Henriques, aided by an army of Crusaders. The bulk of these were Englishmen; and thus the siege of Lisbon is doubly interesting as it was ‘the first instance of the close connection between the two nations (England and Portugal) which has lasted down to the present century’ (H. M. Stephens).
The importance of Lisbon began under Affonso III. (1248–79), who transferred the royal residence hither from Coimbra (1260). The great discoveries made by the Portuguese at the end of the 15th cent., and the conquest of India by Francisco d’Almeida (d. 1510) and Affonso de Albuquerque (d. 1515), greatly benefited the capital, which soon became the richest town in Europe, and recovered rapidly even from the effects of the earthquakes of 1531 and 1575. But the sixty years of Spanish dominion (1580–1640), the defeats of the Spanish and Portuguese fleets in the war with Holland, and the loss of India were severe trials. The earthquake of 1755 laid half the city in ruins. The beginning of the 19th cent. brought the French invasion, the removal of the royal residence to Rio de Janeiro, the Peninsular War, the loss of Brazil, and the utter decadence of Lisbon. Since the period of revolutions, and since the partial bankruptcy of the country in 1892, Lisbon has again risen from a state of decay to be a great and handsome city, thanks largely to the initiative of the German Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg-Kohary, consort of Queen Maria II., and to his sons, Pedro V. (1853–61) and Luis I. (1861–89). Party strife in the next reign led to the dictatorship of the minister João Franco, and on 1st Feb. 1908 Lisbon witnessed the assassination of Carlos I. and the crown-prince Luis Philippe (comp. p. [14]). Carlos’s second son then ascended the throne as Manuel II. He had, however, only reigned two years when the establishment of the Republic forced him to go into exile (5th Oct., 1910). President of the provisional government Theophilo Braga. The republican colours are green and red.