Zoe goes to Portugal: Last day in Lisbon

Tuesday, 18th June, 2013.

 

It’s Zoe, Mummy and Gran’s last day in Lisbon, so they’re going to make the most of it!  Miss Mischief checks out the map.

 

This requires some serious study.

 

They took a taxi into town and bought some Mexican bridesmaid necklaces for Aunty Laura’s wedding.

 

Then they went and stood in a queue to go up the Elevador de Santa Justa.

For centuries, the many steep hills posed significant challenges to Lisbon's citizens. Several solutions were devised to help people climb the steep slopes. Initially inclines were used that were pulled by animals. During the industrial age several steam-powered funiculars were created that are still in use to this day in an electrified form. One of the inclines was replaced with a large elevator, the Elevador de Santa Justa, now the most famous of all Lisbon's 'Elevadors'.

The beautifully decorated 45 metre elevator was built by the Portuguese engineer Raoul Mesnier du Ponsard, a student of Gustave Eiffel. He designed a conspicuous neo-Gothic iron structure, with beautiful Gothic arched windows and iron geometric tracery.                                                                                         
Completed in 1901, it offered an easy way of reaching the Bairro Alto (Higher District) from the 32 meters lower situated Baixa district. Originally the elevator was powered by a steam engine which was replaced by an electrical one in 1906.

The Gothic looking elevator is one of the most popular attractions in the centre of Lisbon, and in 2002 it was classified as a National Monument.

Inside the tower shaft are two wood-panelled lift cages that counterbalance each other.

From http://www.aviewoncities.com/lisbon/elevadorsantajusta.htm

 

At the top of the lift, a covered bridge and open viaduct connect the Santa Justa elevator with the Largo do Carmo (Carmo Square).

 

Zoe, Mummy and Gran walk along the Rua do Carmo towards the lift, which is behind the buildings on the right.  When they arrive at the top of the lift, they walk along the covered walkway which you can see, which eventually leads to Largo do Carmo, a beautiful square full of flowering jacarandas outside the Carmo Church, where they have lunch. 

 

After queuing for about half an hour, Zoe, Mummy and Gran finally made it into the lift.  The view from the top was worth the wait.

To the right, you can see (under wraps) the triumphal Rua Augusta Arch, built to celebrate Lisbon’s recovery from the 1755 earthquake.

 

From here you can see across the Tagus, about six or seven kilometres wide here, creating the natural harbour which helped make Portugal such a naval power from the 15th century.

 

On the left, you can see Lisbon’s main cathedral, the Se (short for Sedes Episcopalis, the Bishop’s Seat) built on the site of a former mosque by Alfonso Henriques after he recaptured Lisbon from the Moors in 1150.

 

On top of the hill, you can see the Castelo de Soa Jorge. 

Once a Moorish castle, and then the abode of the Portuguese kings, the castle was transformed in the 1930s into tranquil public gardens.

Gran visited this castle in 1970, when she and Carol were sailing on the Fairstar from Australia to England, and the ship docked for a day at Estoril, near Lisbon.

 

Gran remembers that one of the Australian girls from the Fairstar had a fall from the rocky ramparts of the Castelo de Soa Jorge, which probably didn’t have Australian Workplace Health and Safety standards (especially in 1970) and broke her leg, which must have altered her travel plans somewhat.

 

Downhill from the Castelo de Soa Jorge stands the Igreja de Graca.  Today, this church is visited chiefly by tourists for the view from its belvedere, the Miradoura da Graca.

Behind the Miradoura stands an Augustinian monastery, founded in 1271, and rebuilt after the 1755 earthquake.  Once a flourishing monastic community, the huge building is now used as a barracks.

 

Ironically, this was the one day it was cloudy.  Every other day that Zoe was in Lisbon, there wasn’t a cloud in the sky.

 

Aha – a patch of blue!  Looking down to the Rossio (Praco Dom Pedro 1V) with a statue of the Dom on a pedestal. 

On the northern side of the square is the magnificent Teatro Nacional Dona Maria II (Dom Pedro’s daughter) built in the 1840s by the Italian architect Fortunato Lodi.  In front of the theatre is a statue of Gil Vicente (1465-1536), the “Father of Portuguese theatre”, who incidentally predates Shakespeare.

 

This is the street Zoe, Mummy and Gran walked up to reach the Elevador de Santa Justa from the necklace shop in Rua Garrett.

 

Looking down from the top of the Elevador de Santa Justa, you can clearly see the mosaic patterns on the footpath below, including one outside a Chinese restaurant!

 

Here are Zoe and Mummy on the filigree-embellished walkway which links the top of the Elevador de Santa Justa with the Largo do Carmo (Carmo Square), with a view of Lisbon and the Castelo de Soa Jorge in the background.

The wire netting above the wrought iron filigree work was probably not in designer Raoul Mesnier du Ponsard’s original plan.

 

Zoe and Mummy continue along the walkway past the ruins of the Igreja do Carmo (Carmo Church).  This Carmelite church, once the largest in Lisbon, stands as a reminder of the 1755 earthquake. 

 

Underneath the arches.

 

Zoe and Mummy on the walkway near the Igreja do Carmo (Carmo Church), with the Miradoura da Graca in the distant background.

 

A door of the Igreja do Carmo (Carmo Church).  Nowadays, the main body of the church, and the chancel, whose roof withstood the violent shockwaves of the 1755 earthquake, house an archaeological museum. 

 

The walkway emerged into the Largo do Carmo (Carmo Square).

 

The Largo do Carmo (Carmo Square) was surrounded by flowering jacaranda trees, which dropped a carpet of purple flowers onto everything beneath, and perfumed the air.

 

Here are Zoe and Mummy in the Largo do Carmo beside the Chafariz do Carmo, an 18th century fountain designed by Angelo Belasco, elaborately decorated with four dolphins.

 

Another door of the Igreja do Carmo opens onto the Largo do Carmo.

 

Romantically, blue sky begins to appear through a window of the ruins of the Igreja do Carmo.

 

Somewhat incongruously in this romantic setting, the Police Headquarters, guarded by sentries, also faced onto the Largo do Carmo. 

 

Under the jacaranda trees, and complete with a guitarist playing delicate classical music, were the tables of an outdoor restaurant.  Mummy and Gran decided to have their last Lisbon meal at this typically Portuguese restaurant.

After having settled themselves, Zoe’s pram, their shopping and assorted baby requirements at a table, Mummy and Gran were amused to find that this “typically Portuguese restaurant” was in fact an Indian curry house.

Mummy settled for a vegetable curry, which came with its own little candle to keep it warm.

 

Gran scanned the menu to find something Portuguese, and came up with sardines, as the sardine is a symbol of the Festa de Lisboa.  Gran was hoping that sardines would be enough for lunch, but when they arrived, they were enormous – bigger than whiting!

 

There was only enough time for Gran to eat four of these giant sardines, before heading back to Lapa No 82 to get ready to go to the airport.

 

Back at Lapa No 82, Zoe, Mummy and Gran said goodbye to Isobel and Joaquim, who owned the B&B with Luis.  They had enjoyed a wonderful six days there.  Maybe some of them will come back again one day!

 

Mummy put Zoe’s travelling hat on her, and off they set for the airport.