Lisbon (Lisboa)
Lisbon, or Lisboa in Portuguese, is the capital city of Portugal and is situated on the Tagus River (Rio Tejo). Lisbon is known as the city of seven hills, which means it makes for a good glute workout and also has some stunning viewpoints, called miradouros.
The Castle of Saint George (Castelo de São Jorge) looks down over Lisbon from one of these hills. While this castle copped a battering or two back in the day, the Lisbon earthquake in 1755 was one of the city's most destructive events, given it was tailed by a tsunami and massive fire, because in a harrowing twist, this all took place on a holy day when candles were lit across the city. The death toll was staggering and Lisbon was all but destroyed (Alfama was one of the few districts that survived), meaning the vast majority of Portugal's greatest minds and important documents vanished overnight.
An important figure during Lisbon's post-earthquake rebuild process was Marquês de Pombal, who I wrote about in my blog post Who are they? Famous names on the streets of Portugal. You can read other interesting facts about Lisbon in my post Portugal's bridges: go big or go home.
These days Portugal's capital is a buzzing cosmopolitan city that's attracting a growing number of start-ups, and offers many fine dining restaurants and boutique shops while maintaining its traditional Portuguese charm. It also happens to be one of my favourite cities in the world.
Next: Loriga (centre)
The Castle of Saint George (Castelo de São Jorge) looks down over Lisbon from one of these hills. While this castle copped a battering or two back in the day, the Lisbon earthquake in 1755 was one of the city's most destructive events, given it was tailed by a tsunami and massive fire, because in a harrowing twist, this all took place on a holy day when candles were lit across the city. The death toll was staggering and Lisbon was all but destroyed (Alfama was one of the few districts that survived), meaning the vast majority of Portugal's greatest minds and important documents vanished overnight.
An important figure during Lisbon's post-earthquake rebuild process was Marquês de Pombal, who I wrote about in my blog post Who are they? Famous names on the streets of Portugal. You can read other interesting facts about Lisbon in my post Portugal's bridges: go big or go home.
These days Portugal's capital is a buzzing cosmopolitan city that's attracting a growing number of start-ups, and offers many fine dining restaurants and boutique shops while maintaining its traditional Portuguese charm. It also happens to be one of my favourite cities in the world.
Next: Loriga (centre)
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