Portugal photos > Lisbon - history and landmarks
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Atop Soa Jorge
Lisbon is a city of Seven Hills. Atop one of the hills is the Castle of Sao Jorge (St. George), which provides excellent views of the city and the meeting point Tagus River flowing into the Atlantic Ocean
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April 25 Bridge
Spanning the Tagus River, near to where it meets the Atlantic, is the April 25th Bridge, which looks JUST like San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge! It's orange and everything!!!!
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Red Roofs
Red tiles roofs in Lisbon
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Sinister Fountain at the Castle do Sao Jorge
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Peacocks!
Near the castle's museum, a foursome of peacocks roamed, to the delight of visitors (including us)
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I made a few funny noises (just enough to aggrivate him) so he'd show his plumage
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Peek A Boo
John's hiding from the peacock.
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The Castle's cafe served "American-sized" slices of chocolate cake! Holy calorie-fest!
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O Venturoso
John with the statue of Manuel the First of Portugal, a king whose reign sparked the Age of Discovery, which brought much wealth and fame to Portugal. In fact, a specific architectural style called Manuelism was named after him, for many elaborate buildings were ordered by him.
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Santa Justa elevator
The Santa Justa elevator is one of the city's most famous sites; nicknamed Lisbon's Eiffel . The Santa Justa is 45 meters (over 150 feet) tall and was built in 1892, a few years after the Eiffel Tower. In hilly Lisbon, the Santa Justa was built to connect the lower town with the upper town.
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Atop the Santa Justa
Atop Santa Justa, which has a small cafe and snack bar.
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Great views form up here!
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we chose the stairs instead of the elevator - we have to burn off that chocolate cake!
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One of the city's trolley rails seem to dead-end near the Santa Justa
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Known for its plethora of water, Lisbon has many public fountains and spickets in neighborhood plazas
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Art Deco
Lisbon's architectural scene also saw a heyday with Art Deco, as this building on the Avenida do Libertidad shows
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Another view of the Golden Gate, er, I mean, the April 25 Bridge. It's named so for the Carnation Revolution in 1975 in Portugal and was built by the same company who built my dear Golden Gate Bridge in my semi-hometown San Francisco. It is the 17th largest suspension bridge in the world.
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Along the Avenida do Libertidad, the blocks are numbered with huge statues like this "9"
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I almost feel like I'm back home in San Fran. Almost... You can barely see the other key point in this photo, the smaller version of Brazil's Cristo Rei statue.
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Near the Tower of Belem, this to-size monument honors the Curtiss NC-4 flying boat. Designed during World War I, the NC-4 became the first aircraft of its kind to fly across the Atlantic Ocean, in 1919, though it did so in several stages. It began its flight at Naval Air Station Rockaway, on Long Island, in New York, on May 8th, and completed its trip, from America to Europe, on May 27th. When it arrived in Lisbon, after making stops in in Canada, and in the Azores, it made history.
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Belem Tower
Lisbon's Belem Tower was built from 1515 to 1520 and once served as a watchtower for Lisbon when it stood in the middle of the Tagus River. Today the river has changed its course and the Belem Tower sits on the river bank. The Belem Tower serves as Lisbon's symbol of the Age of Discovery, and often used as a symbol for the entire country. UNESCO has listed the Belem Tower in Lisbon as a World Heritage monument. -
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The awesome Discoveries Monument, built in 1960 to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the death of Prince Henry the Navigator, who sponsored many of the Portuguese explorers of the 16th century. The Discoveries Monument features statues of all the great Portuguese explorers such as Vasco de Gama and Magellan on its side (pictured). The monument also has a map that chronicles Portugal's empire building around the world. Inside the monument is a small museum with a cinema featuring a short film of the history of Lisbon
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The plaza facing the Discoverers' Monument, which features tilework in the formation of a compass.
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Pastries!
At the end of our long day of sightseeing, Luis (embassy driver) takes us to Pasteis de Belem, a famous cafe which holds a 160 year-old recipe for the most succulent egg custard pastries you've ever imagined. We bought a six-pack of them and brought home to Amgad.
