Lisbon: How a Small Country Sailed into the Ocean and Changed the World

You have climbed to the highest point of the old town. This is where it all began. This hill was already inhabited almost three thousand years ago. Then came the Phoenicians, the Romans, the Visigoths and the Muslims. In the eleventh century, the Muslims raised this fortress. Lisbon was called Al-Ushbuna, and it was a rich, cosmopolitan city. In 1147, the first king of Portugal, Afonso Henriques, conquered it. Crusaders who arrived by sea from northern Europe helped him. The siege lasted almost four months. The legend tells more. A knight, Martim Moniz, supposedly kept a gate from closing …

Step up to the railing. This is one of the most famous views in Lisbon. Below, a sea of red roofs. Beyond, the Tagus, so wide it looks like a bay. And the white domes of churches peeking out between the houses. The name comes from an old gate in the city wall. Here, the road opened toward the morning sun. Look for the great white dome of Santa Engrácia. And nearby, the façade of São Vicente de Fora. Now imagine the scene nine centuries ago. No tall buildings, no cars. Only walls, low houses and masts. From this very spot, the inhabitants watched sails arrive. Merchants, crusaders, pirates…

Now get lost in these little streets. It is the best way to understand Alfama. The name comes from the Arabic al-hamma, meaning baths or hot springs. This neighborhood already existed when Lisbon was Muslim. Look at the streets: narrow, twisting, made of stairs. Nobody laid them out with a ruler. They grew on their own, at the pace of life. And here comes the extraordinary part. On November 1, 1755, a massive earthquake destroyed much of Lisbon. Followed by a tsunami and fires. Tens of thousands of people died. The lower city was left in ruins. But Alfama, for the most part, held. It is b…

Look at the façade. Two massive towers, battlements, a rose window. It looks like a fortress. And in part, it is. This is the Sé of Lisbon, the oldest cathedral in the city. Construction began in 1147, right after the Christian conquest. The first bishop was an English crusader, Gilbert of Hastings. The message was clear: Lisbon was now Christian, and this temple proclaimed it like a fortress. It is built over the city's great mosque. Every conquest leaves a layer over the one before. If you enter the cloister, you will see something fascinating. Excavations showing Roman streets, Islamic …

This neighborhood is called Mouraria. Literally, the Moors' quarter. When the Christians conquered Lisbon in 1147, the Muslims who stayed were relocated here, outside the walls. That is how this corner was born. Centuries later, it became a working-class neighborhood. Of sailors, humble folk, immigrants. And artists. Maria Severa lived here, a singer born in 1820. She is considered the first great voice of fado. Fado is music of nostalgia and destiny. One voice, a Portuguese guitar, and one key word: saudade. It blends African rhythms, Brazilian songs, sailors' chants. Everything the sea …

Look up. This is iron, and it looks like Gothic lace. It is the Santa Justa Elevator, inaugurated in 1902. It stands about 45 meters tall. And it connects the Baixa, below, with the Chiado neighborhood, above. Many people believe Gustave Eiffel built it. He did not. It was designed by Raoul Mesnier de Ponsard, an engineer who had worked with him. Notice the details: pointed arches, iron filigree, a neo-Gothic look. A machine dressed as a cathedral. Lisbon has seven hills. And between the Baixa and the Chiado there is a drop of about thirty meters. The elevator solved that problem with engi…

Walk along the Rua Augusta to the great arch. You are inside a city that was built from scratch. On November 1, 1755, the earthquake and the tsunami devastated this area. Fires completed the disaster. King Joseph I entrusted the rebuilding to his minister, the Marquis of Pombal. A famous phrase is attributed to him: "Bury the dead and care for the living." Look at the streets: straight, parallel, in a grid. Before 1755, this was a medieval labyrinth. Pombal preferred reason over custom. And the buildings had a secret. An internal wooden structure, the so-called gaiola pombalina, to withsta…

Walk to the water's edge. This river has a long history. It is the Tagus. It rises in Spain and runs more than a thousand kilometers. It is the same river that circles Toledo. Here, at last, it opens to the ocean. For centuries, this was one of the last cities in Europe before the open sea. Beyond, tradition said, there were only monsters and emptiness. But the Portuguese had a plan. In the fifteenth century, Prince Henry, called the Navigator, pushed the exploration of the African coast. Ship after ship went farther south. In 1488, Bartolomeu Dias rounded the southern tip of Africa. In 14…

Climb up to the Bairro Alto. By day it seems asleep. At night, it wakes. This neighborhood began to be developed in the early sixteenth century. Lisbon was growing at full speed, enriched by spices and by the empire's trade. The streets are straight and narrow. And they survived the 1755 earthquake better than the lower city. Look for the church of São Roque. From the outside it is austere. Inside, there is a chapel that is a jewel. It is the Chapel of Saint John the Baptist. It was built in Rome, in the eighteenth century, with lapis lazuli, amethyst, gold and marble. Then it was taken ap…

You have reached Belém. Here is where the real voyages began. This is the Belém Tower. King Manuel I built it between 1514 and 1519. It was a fortress to defend the river's entrance. But it was also a ceremonial gateway. Look at the style: stone ropes, armillary spheres, crosses of the Order of Christ. It is called Manueline. A style made of sea, knots and ambition. Look for a hidden detail. Under one of the turrets there is a rhinoceros carved in stone. In 1515 a living one arrived from India, a gift for the king. It was the first seen in Europe since Roman times. Sailors leaving port sal…

Stop here. You are facing a stone ship fifty-two meters tall. It is the Monument to the Discoveries. It is shaped like a caravel. At the prow, holding a ship in his hands, stands Prince Henry the Navigator. Behind him, thirty-two more figures. Sailors, mapmakers, poets, missionaries, a painter. Vasco da Gama, Magellan, Camões. Among them, one queen: Philippa of Lancaster. The monument was inaugurated in 1960, for the five hundredth anniversary of Henry's death. It was raised by a dictatorship: Salazar's. It wanted to show the world a glorious Portugal. But the glory had another side. Portu…

This monastery is excess turned to stone. Look up and notice every detail. King Manuel I began it in 1501. He financed it largely with income from the spice trade with India. A handful of pepper was worth a fortune in Europe. Look at the south portal. Sculptures, canopy, saints, stone coral, ropes and shells. It is Manueline art at its peak. But this place already had meaning. There was a small chapel here. Tradition says Vasco da Gama prayed in it for a whole night. It was before sailing, in July 1497. He came back with spices. And with proof: there was a sea route to India. Today his to…

This building almost goes unnoticed among the great monuments. And that is exactly what makes it interesting. It was built in the 1940s, during Salazar's dictatorship. It was created to show the soul of the Portuguese people: crafts, costumes, ceramics, fishing gear. The idea was to sell an image: a humble, happy, traditional Portugal. No conflicts. No questions. Now think about the other scale of empire. Not that of kings and monuments. That of ordinary people. Sailors who risked their lives on voyages lasting months. Peasants who emigrated. Women who waited at the port. And millions of …