Today, another bright sunny day, but breezy and cool, here in Lisbon.
We started our morning with a bus tour of Lisbon.
This statue is Lisbon’s tribute to the resourceful and implacable marquis of Pombal, who was the prime minister at the time of the 1755 earthquake and later directed the city’s urban renewal. He stands 131 feet high on top of a stone pedestal with a lion by his side. The king had left the city to the marquis of Pombal to organize the rebuilding of Lisbon.
The 1755 Lisbon earthquake, impacted Portugal, the Iberian Peninsula, and Northwest Africa on the morning of Saturday, 1 November, Feast of All Saints, at around 09:40 local time. In combination with subsequent fires and a tsunami, the earthquake almost totally destroyed Lisbon and adjoining areas. Semiologists estimate the Lisbon earthquake had a magnitude of 7.7 or more, with its epicenter in the Atlantic Ocean about 120 miles west-southwest of Cape St Vincent and about 180 miles southwest of Lisbon.
Chronologically it was the third known large scale earthquake to hit the city (there had been one in 1321 and another in 1531). Estimates place the death toll in Lisbon at between 12,000 and 50,000 people, making it one of the deadliest earthquakes in history.
Eduardo VII Park is a public park. The park occupies an area of 64 acres to the north of Avenida da Liberdade and Marquis of Pombal Square in Lisbon’s city center.
The park is named for King Edward VII of the United Kingdom, who visited Portugal in 1903 to strengthen relations between the two countries and reaffirm the Anglo-Portuguese Alliance. Until Edward’s visit the park was called Liberty Park. In 1945 Portuguese Modernist architect Francisco Keil do Amaral redesigned the park to its current configuration.
The fountain – commemorating the Revolution of 1974. The Carnation Revolution, a left-leaning military coup, began on 25 April 1974, in Lisbon, Portugal. It was coupled with an unanticipated and extensive campaign of civil resistance. These events effectively changed the Portuguese regime from an authoritarian dictatorship into a democracy.
This fountain in Parque Eduardo VII (Edward VII Park)- was constructed from ruins created during this 1974 revolution by Portuguese sculptor João Cutileiro. It represents the emerging of democracy in Portugal.
This spot also has a gorgeous view of the Tagus river and the city.
Elaborately-painted Portuguese tiles, called azulejos, fell out of favor in the early 20th Century. But Lisbon today is embracing the art in its murals, museums and metro stations.
Azulejos first came to Portugal in the 15th Century, when parts of the Iberian Peninsula were still under Moorish rule. Although many assume the word is a derivation of azul (Portuguese for “blue”), the word is Arabic in origin and comes from az-zulayj, which roughly translates as “polished stone”.
“Many other countries have tile art, where it is used as decoration like a tapestry,” said museum director Maria Antónia Pinto de Matos. “But in Portugal, it became a part of the building. The decorative tiles are a construction material as well as decoration.”
Gago Coutinho was an early Portuguese aviation pioneer who is commemorated in Lisbon by a monument of his biplane, the Santa Cruz. Gago Coutinho along with Sacadura Cabral were the first pilots to fly across the South Atlantic Ocean. Their flight of 8400 km departed from Lisbon on March 24, 1922 and arrived in Rio de Janeiro 79 days later on June 6th 1922.
The seaplane monument in Belem recalls this perilous voyage and is an exact replica of their Fairey seaplane. The monument of the Santa Cruz biplane is located in the Belem district close to the Torre de Belem, as it was from this parkland that the plane took off.
The Santa Cruz Fairey seaplane used by Coutinho and Cabral for their transatlantic flight did not have the fuel capacity to make the entire trip unaided so various stops were required along the route. The aviators were shadowed by a support ship, called the Republica. On the journey down the Brazilian coast a heavy rain storm caused the aircraft’s engine to fail and they were forced to ditch into the Pacific Ocean.
Realizing that something was wrong, the support boat Republica sent out a distress signal asking other ships in the area to look out for the seaplane. After worrying period in the water, the pilots were found by a British freighter. The rescued Coutinho and Cabral were distraught as they had lost their plane so close to their final destination. Coutinho and Cabral after a heated negotiation a new air craft was loaned from the British with which they were able to complete their journey.
Gago Coutinho contributions to aviation were not limited to just mad cap distance flying, he also invented a sextant that incorporated two spirit levels which provided an artificial horizon. This adaptation of the traditional marine sextant allowed navigation without visual reference to the real horizon, particularly useful when flying through heavy fog or cloud.
Belém Tower, officially the Tower of Saint Vincent is a 16th-century fortification located that served as a point of embarkation and disembarkation for Portuguese explorers and as a ceremonial gateway to Lisbon. It was built during the height of the Portuguese Renaissance, and is a prominent example of the Portuguese Manueline style, but it also incorporates hints of other architectural styles. The structure was built from lioz limestone and is composed of a bastion and a 98.4 ft, four-story tower.
Since 1983, the tower has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site, along with the Jeronimos Monastery. It is often portrayed as a symbol of Europe’s Age of Discoveries and as a metonym for Portugal or Lisbon, given its landmark status. It has incorrectly been stated that the tower was built in the middle of the Tagus and now sits near the shore because the river was redirected after the 1755 Lisbon earthquake. In fact, the tower was built on a small island in the Tagus river near the Lisbon shore.
The Sanctuary of Christ the King is a Catholic monument and shrine dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ overlooking the city of Lisbon situated in Almada, Portugal. It was inspired by the Christ the Redeemer statue of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, after the Cardinal Patriarch of Lisbon visited that monument. The project was inaugurated on 17 May 1959. The giant statue was erected to express gratitude because the Portuguese were spared the direct destructive effects of World War II.
Created by Cottinelli Telmo (1897–1948) and the sculptor Leopoldo de Almeida (1898–1975), Padrão dos Descobrimentos was first erected in 1940, in a temporary form, as part of the Portuguese World Exhibition, built with perishable materials. It had a light iron and cement frame, while the moulded sculpture had a light iron and cement frame, while the moulded sculpture was made of gypsum (formed of plaster and burlap, and reinforced by a wooden and iron structure).
The monument was reconstructed in 1960 to mark 500 years since the death of the Infante Dom Henrique (Henry the Navigator). This time it was made of concrete and rose-tinted Leiria stone masonry, with the sculptures made of Sintra limestone masonry.
The Centro Cultural das Descobertas was opened in 1985. Architect Fernando Ramalho remodelled the interior, giving the monument a viewpoint, auditorium and exhibition hall.
Standing alone in a striking position on the breakwater on the bank of the Tagus, the Monument to the Discoveries evokes the Portuguese overseas expansion, recalls the country’s glorious past and symbolizes the enormity of the work carried out by the Henry the Navigator, the driving force behind the Discoveries.
A stylized caravel seems to be setting out to sea, with Henry the Navigator in its prow. On the two lateral ramps ascending to the symbolic figure of the Prince are some of the significant characters of the Portuguese overseas expansion and cultural names from the age of the Discoveries, 32 in total, all portrayed with symbols that allude to their identity: navigators, cartographers, warriors, colonizers, missionaries, chroniclers and artists.
Composed of a vertical element consisting of a stylised mast oriented North-South, with two Portuguese coats of arms on each side with its five small shields, surrounded by a band with 12 castles and stylised fleurs-de-lis in the centre.
On each side are three triangular structures, each with one curved side, giving the illusion of sails blown out by the wind.
The Jerónimos Monastery is a former monastery of the Order of Saint Jerome near the Tagus river in the parish of Belem; it was secularized on 28 December 1833 by state decree and its ownership transferred to the charitable institution, Real Casa Pia de Lisboa.
The monastery is one of the most prominent examples of the Portuguese Late Gothic Manueline style of architecture in Lisbon. It was classified a UNESCO World Heritage Site, in 1983.
The Jerónimos Monastery replaced the church formerly existing in the same place, which was dedicated to Santa Maria de Belém and where the monks of the military-religious Order of Christ provided assistance to seafarers in transit. The harbor of Praia do Restelo was an advantageous spot for mariners, with a safe anchorage and protection from the winds, sought after by ships entering the mouth of the Tagus. The existing structure was inaugurated on the orders of Manuel I (1469–1521) at the courts of Montemor o Velho in 1495, as a final resting-place for members of the House of Aviz, in his belief that an Iberian dynastic kingdom would rule after his death. In 1496, King Manuel petitioned the Holy See for permission to construct a monastery at the site. The Hermitage of Restelo, as the church was known, was already in disrepair when Vasco da Gama and his men spent the night in prayer there before departing on their expedition to the Orient in 1497.
This chancel was ordered by Queen Catherine of Austria as the final resting place for the royal family. It is the work of Jean de Rouen in the Classical style. The royal tombs rest on marble elephants and are set between Ionic pillars, topped by Corinthian pillars. The tombs on the left side of the choir belong to king Manuel I and his wife Maria of Aragon, while the tombs on the right side belong to King Joao III and his wife Queen Catherine of Austria.
Our treat after visiting the Monastery
A Pastel de Nata is a small, egg-custard tart with flaky pastry, best eaten fresh out the oven and sprinkled with cinnamon.
Although the pastries are now sold in just about every café in Portugal, they originated in Belém centuries ago and were enjoyed exclusively by monks.
Portugal used to be one of the biggest egg producers in Europe and, at the time, most of the excess egg yokes were thrown out or given to animals to eat. Then, during the Age of Discovery, Portugal vastly expanded its empire and began importing large amounts of sugar from its colonies.
At the time, monasteries and convents would use copious amounts of egg-whites to starch their religious habits and, with the now enormous amounts of sugar reaching the Portuguese shores, they started using the left-over yokes to bake all sorts of pastries and desserts.
That is why Portugal has a grand tradition of conventual sweets, which were all originally made by nuns and monks. Each region of Portugal boasts its own traditional treat and Belém in particular is famed for the Pastel de Belém, made by the monks who used to live at the Jerónimos Monastery.
The reason the pastry spread throughout the whole of Portugal begins at the start of the 19th century when the Portuguese royal family and their entire court fled to Brazil a few days before the Napoleonic forces invaded Lisbon due to Portugal’s alliance with Great Britain. The royal family stayed in Brazil for a little over a decade until they were forced to return to Portugal in 1821 after the Liberal revolution.
During that time, Rio de Janeiro served as the capital of the Kingdom of Portugal, and Portugal itself was ruled more as a colony. This caused a severe political crisis and forced the king, D. João VI, to return in order to retain his Portuguese throne. The prince, D. Pedro, on the other hand, refused to leave and became the first emperor of Brazil after declaring Brazil’s independence the following year.
In 1826, the reigning king D. João VI died, just five years after returning to Portugal, which created a dispute over the royal succession. D. Pedro, the new emperor of Brazil, was the oldest son but his younger brother, D. Miguel, contended that he had abdicated his right to the throne by declaring Brazil’s independence. Neither Brazil nor Portugal wanted to unify, so D. Pedro decided to crown his daughter, Maria (who was seven at the time), the ruler of Portugal instead.
This led to a civil war that lasted six years, where the crown exchanged hands several times. In the end, D. Miguel was stripped of the throne and lived the remainder of his life in exile. Maria once again was proclaimed Queen of Portugal, and D. Pedro regent. The point of this story is, once the civil war ended, D. Pedro’s first act was to confiscate the property of all of those who had supported D. Miguel, including all religious properties.
The dissolution of the monasteries of Portugal thus took part in 1834 and all masculine religious orders were closed and the lands they occupied nationalised. The Jerónimos monks had already started selling their pastries at a nearby sugar refinery to help sustain the monastery, but, once the monastery was definitively closed in 1834, they sold their recipe to the owner of the refinery.
In 1837, the Pastéis de Belém bakery officially opened, right next to the monastery where it still remains today. Each pastry costs 1.15€ and they have a counter where you can quickly pick them up to take away or you can sit inside one of their many rooms decorated with traditional blue and white pictured tiles.
The original recipe is still used to this day and is kept locked away in a secret room only accessible to a handful of people. Only the pastries sold at the original bakery in Belém boast the name of Pastéis de Belém, the rest are known as Pastéis de Nata, which you can find just about everywhere.
Ginjinha, is a Portuguese liqueur made by infusing ginja berries in alcohol and adding sugar together with other ingredients, with cloves and/or cinnamon sticks being the most common. Ginjinha is served in a shot form with a piece of the fruit in the bottom of the cup. It is a favorite liqueur of many Portuguese.
We then went to the top of our hotel for some sunset shots
And then off to dinner and Fado.
A shawl, a Portuguese guitar, a voice and heartfelt emotion. This simple image could describe Fado, a recognized symbol of Portugal, and a music of the world that is genuinely Portuguese.
At its heart is sentiment, lost love, longing for a departed one, everyday life and triumphs. After all, the vicissitudes of life provide endlessly inspirational topics.
They say fado is fado, that it is ingrained in the Portuguese soul, with no distinctions to be made. Even so, some dare tell a professional from an amateur singer. Professionals earn a living from their voice. Amateurs sing the Fado also known as vagabond, and this has different qualities, although longing is still present as a main reoccurring theme. Making a comeback in Lisbon’s working-class districts, fado vagabond singers are never invited… they invite themselves and do not have a set repertoire.
In 2011, UNESCO granted Fado World Heritage status, as an urban Lisbon song symbolic of the city and the country.
And the only thing I left out was going to get an Antigen test for Gloria and I to go to Madeira on Saturday.
Did I tell you that I think our luck with weather is going to run out? Forecast is for rain every day we are in Madeira. Oh well, we have had fantastic weather every day of our trip so far, so I guess we are due. Cross your fingers for us.
Well off to bed, it’s almost 11:30 PM here and another full day is planned for tomorrow. I need to set out my clothes and get to bed.
Boa Noite.
Postcards from Sue and friends 