Portugal > Lisbon City

One of Portugal’s largest and most beautiful cities is Lisbon. This city is extraordinary in a variety of ways. The city was founded on seven hills and you have to take this into account when you stroll around the city. For the most part, the city is best enjoyed on foot.

When the hills become too strenuous, there are other very interesting means of public transport in Lisbon. Probably the most unusual is the Elevador de Santa Justa, an elevator, which connects the lower to the upper city. The lower entrance is in a kind of pedestrian precinct in the city centre (close to Rossio square). When you step out above, walk over a footbridge to the ruins of the Convento Do Carmo (Karmeliter monastery) which was destroyed by an earthquake and its church. At the side of the church you can still see the effects of the earthquake from 1755, parts of the outside wall subsided several centimetres.

Coming back to the transport , there are also two inclined elevators, similar to a cable car system, which travel between houses from the valley to the Lisbon mountain station. >>>>

During our stay in autumn 2006 both elevators, were unfortunately out of operation, as protective measures had to be taken for the houses. An extremely interesting transport means are however the streetcars. There are a few new lines, which travel mainly in the outskirts of the city, travelling on an old line is really exciting in the city centre. These streetcars are so old that you would only find them in our museums, the seats are everything but comfortable, mostly simple wooden benches, but the ride is an experience. At racing speeds it goes from one bend into the next, uphill and downhill, the roads are so narrow that you have a constant fear of colliding with house corners. Therefore you should enjoy yourself even though everything can be well reached on foot, travelling with the elevator or streetcars, since this simply belongs to Lisbon and is in addition extremely inexpensive. >>

 

Sightseeing in Lisbon; the largest and most important building in the city is the Mosteiro DOS Jerónimos - the Hieronymus monastery in Belém (see next picture), in a suburb of Lisbon. We could already admire this monumental area from the plane. Particularly beautiful is the monastery’s inner courtyard. In the adjacent church there are important Sarcophagi, e.g. from Vasco da Gama. In front of the monastery are extensive gardens with water routes and copious amounts of flowering Strelizias.

Not so far away from the Hieronymus monastery is the Torre de Belem, from the outside only a tower, which stands in the waters of the Tejos, inside however is a small fortress with different chambers and hidden oriels, waiting to be discovered.

 

Back in the city centre there are still more sights to see. The Castelo de Sao Jorge, a fortress that looks regally over the city. From the castle you have a wonderful view. There are a lot of churches in the city and also a large cathedral. I would particularly recommend a night-time walk through the illuminated city, which can have some hidden surprises.

Autor: Bettina Lehmann - Airport Dresden >>> Hotels in Lissabon