Lisbon - Alfama Castelo and around Travel Guides | Lisbon | Sub Regions | Lisbon - Alfama Castelo and around

Frederico de Brito “Our Lips meet easily across the narrow street”. Like a miniature candy-coloured cubist city, whipped up by a cyclone and tossed over Lisbon’s highest hills, Alfama is a maze of zig zagging streets. Dominating the skyline is the iconic Castelo de São Jorge and spreading within its walls the ancient district of Santa Cruz, a rough-hewn medina conjuring up images of crusading knights and buried treasure.

Trams feel like time capsules to a medieval world, scaling ancient steets to the Miradouros de Santa Catarina and Largo Portas de Sol where the city reveals itself in all its follies and glories breathtakingly below. The pristine baroque Panteão Nacional de Santa Engrácia and the twin bell towers of the Igreja de São Vicente da Fora rise amidst clusters of squat houses stacked one on top of the other. Surrounded by seafood restaurants, tour group orientated fado houses and neighbourhood grocers, the Casa do Fado e da Guitarra Portuguesa tells the history of the national song, while a short bus ride away set in the tranquil Madre de Deus Convent the Museu Nacional do Azulejo houses the finest collection of blue and white azulejo tiles in the country. For more authentic exposure to the Portugal’s art forms, wander around earthy Mouraria, the cradle of fado, or the animated streets of Graça, where fragments of lustrous16th-century azulejos peel from the façades of ramshackle dwellings.

Sights

Facing the cathedral, bearing left along Rua da Rosa leads up to the castle while taking the right fork leads along Rua Cruzes da Sé to Rua de São João de Praça and Praça de São Miguel, the heart of Lisbon’s most captivating district. Alfama is furtive ground for timeless exploration and getting lost is par for the course. Becos (blind alleyways) reveal a bewitching world of supernatural rituals and medieval customs, where women still haul their washing to public fountains and late at night the brooding sound of fado seems to come from every nook and cranny. But this is a newly spruced brand of antiquity (the advent of mass tourism has brought gentrification to the area). Whitewashed houses are picturesquely framed by a sudden riot of azulejos and a blaze of geraniums, upmarket restaurants and fado houses make it a tour group mecca.

The Igreja da São Miguel is the epicentre of the All Saint’s festival where, every June, Alfama erupts with pleasures pagan and divine for the Marchas Populares, an unbridled celebration of Lisbon’s popular saints, Anthony, John and Paul, all intrinsic to the city’s religious traditions..

Rua da São Pedro is one of the most animated streets where craggy old fisherman and varinhas (fishwives), still proffer the catch of the day. Largo do Chafariz is the tourist hub where steep stepped streets meander to your own private miradouros where the shimmering River Tagus is framed by a latticework of terracotta rooftops, lone palms and wayward bougainvillea. Most of Alfama’s shops and tourist restaurants are clustered in this area.

‘Alfama’ comes from the Arabic word alhaman meaning ‘springs’, and refers to the hot spring on Chafariz del Rei, Rua Cais de Santarém. This is the site for the oldest public fountain in the city, built by royal decree during the reign of Don Afonso II in the 12th century. An official decree in 1551 regulated the water supply according to sex, race and position. Further up from the square on Beco do Mexias women congregate and can still be seen doing their washing in public fountains. On Rua da Regueira, the former royal palace, the Palácio de Limoeiro, became the mint before its reincarnation a prison in the 15th century. Along Beco do Carneiro houses are stacked 4 ft apart, nestled with sticky floored taverns and chaotic corner grocers. Rua da Judiaria marks the area where Lisbon’s Jewish population fled during the bloody Spanish Inquisition.

East from the square onto Rua dos Remédios leads to Calçada de Cascão and the soaring white dome of the national pantheon.

The iconic dome of the National Pantheon of Santa Engrácia rises majestically over the jumbled mazes of Alfama. Built in 1682, it is a magnificent example of Portuguese baroque which, at the time, created a stir for its innovative design and craftsmanship. It was to be an epic of Sistine Chapel proportions for one architect João Antunes, a humble stonemason who was appointed Royal architect and was considered the greatest architect of his time. When Antunes died in 1712, it didn’t take long for his peers to question his craftsmanship and debate raged as to whether the church would be able to support the weight of the cupola. In the 18th century work was halted and the dome was never built. With the dissolution of the religious orders in 1834, the church became first an arsenal and then a clothing factory. In 1916, when it was chosen as the National Pantheon, construction work of the dome resumed and it was finally completed in 1966. Like its Spanish counterpart, the Sagrada Família in Barcelona, the church has come to symbolize projects that were never to be completed. In the Portuguese lexicon, the popular expression, an “obra de Santa Engrácia” refers to a work which takes an eternity.

Inside the pantheon four rooms provide the final resting place for important literary, political and artistic figures, including Almeida Garrett and Guerra Junquiero. The body of adored fadista Amália Rodriguez, who died on 6 October 1999, was moved here on July 8 2001. The cenotaph honours an impressive roll call of Portugal’s greatest heros from Afonso de Albuquerque (1445-1515), who made Goa the capital of the Portuguese Empire in the Orient, to Vasco da Gama (circa 1469-1524), and Luís de Camões (1524/25-1580), Portugal’s renowned poet, the embodiment of the aesthetic and literary ideals of the Renaissance. His epic poem As Lusiads praised the Portuguese discoveries and greatest feats in Portuguese history. There are 181 steps (or a lift to the left of the entrance) to the gallery at the top of the dome, where you can survey all that is Lisbon from Ponte 25 de Abril to the west to Ponte Vasco da Gama to the east.

Campo de Santa Clara. Tue and Sat 0700-1830.

The district of Santa Clara, encircling the domed pantheon, is the setting for the twice weekly ‘Thieves Fair’, where a mishmash of pseudo-antiques, mismatched socks, screws, illuminated Jesus statues and knock-off mobile phones are paraded to a cacophonous soundtrack of hard-nosed sales banter and Euro-pop CDs. The stalls, which climb the hill towards the Mercado de Santa Clara, conform to more capitalist protocol with labelled prices and more tourist- orientated handicrafts, fado CDs and denim mania. Nearby, a great spot for lunch is the Mercado de Santa Clara.

Igreja de São Vicente da Fora, T 21 882 44 00. Tue-Sun 0900-1230, 1500-1800. Church free, cloisters e2.50.

The original church of São Vicente was built upon the order of King Afonso Henríques, following his triumphant conquest of Lisbon in 1147, in honour of Lisbon’s patron Saint. Its name – ‘Saint Vincent from the outside’ (de fora) – testifies to its original location outside of the city walls. In 1580, newly enthroned King Felipe II of Spain (Felipe I of Portugal), ordered that a church be built as an act of one-upmanship, to assert the power of the Spanish dynastic vision, “I inherited it, I bought it, and I conquered it” was his ruling mantra. The chosen architects were the Italian Renaissance master Filipe Terzi and King Felipe’s royal architect, Juan Herrerra, who was responsible for the sublime El Escorial on the outskirts of Madrid, but many important masters and architects contributed including Baltazar Alves and João Nunes Tinoco.

A visit to the cloisters is the main highlight, accessed through the fanciful arcaded courtyard with its tinkling water fountains. Eighteenth-century azulejo tile panels illustrating La Fontaine’s fables provide a beguiling contrast to the classical austerity of the monastery. The former refectory now houses the pantheon of the House of Bragança, Portugal’s ruling dynasty between 1640-1910, including the remains of Catherine of Bragança (1638-1705), wife of Charles II of England. The first actual burial here, in 1907, was King João IV, swiftly followed just a year later by King Carlos. The remains of Portugal’s last king, Dom Manuel II, who died in exile in Brazil in 1932, lies here. The café serves light snacks but its major draw is the views across the Alfama and the Tagus.

Largo do Chafariz de Dentro, 1, T 21 882 34 70, F 21 882 34 78. 1000-1300, 1400-1600, closed Jan 1, May 1, Dec 25. E2.50.

A pristine pastel-pink mansion is home to the Museum of Fado and the Portuguese Guitar. It presents the origins of fado, the haunting and lyrical expression of Arab fatalism and the embodiment of saudade, an untranslatable term relating to the Portuguese nostalgia for glories past. The greatest fado legend of them all, and national heroine, was Amália, who transcended the barriers of culture and language to become a true symbol of national identity.

Audio-visual presentations including wax dummies, dioramas, multi-lingual information panels and push button fado music, trace the development of fado within a cultural and social context. Fado’s influence on other artistic spheres is chronicled, from the role of fado in Portuguese cinema to the rise of the fado house, and the impact of fascism and censorship. You can surf various tracks from a selection of classic fado CDs, which provides a good initiation into the various styles of fado, and sample taste testers for CD buying – there is a good selection available in the shop. The final exhibits chart the development of the hand-crafted Portuguese guitarra, which developed from the Italian cittern and evolved into the English guitar. Exhibits also probe the life of virtuoso performer Carlos Peredes, the innovative and world- renowned composer. There is a museum café serving drinks and snacks, and a good bookshop.

Rua dos Bacalhoeiros, T 21 888 48 27.

Built in the early 16th century by Braz de Albuquerque, the ‘house of spikes’ is thought to have been modelled on one of two possible Italian palaces, the Palazzo dei Diamanti in Ferrara or the Palazzo Berilacqua in Bologna, both with façades of raised pyramids. The son of Afonso de Albuquerque, Viceroy of India, Braz is thought to have felt the slenderness of his palace rather inferior in comparison to those of his noble neighbours, so he decided to compensate by encrusting a raised diamond pattern onto the façade and endowing the upper two floors with the exuberant arched windows characterstic of the Manueline period. The upper two floors were destroyed by the earthquake in 1755 and were only rebuilt in the 1980s. Close by, on Rua dos Bacalheiros (Codfishman’s Street), walking in the direction of Praça do Comércio past the various tourist shops, there are many cheap restaurants serving satisfying grilled fish dishes.

This dockland development close to Santa Apolónia railway station has metamorphosized from a seedy industrial landscape of decrepit warehouses into one of the most painfully hip spots in Lisbon, with sleek nightclubs and high-class eateries.

Largo da Sé, T 21 887 66 28. Cathedral: Tue-Sat 0900-1900, Mon, Sun, public and religious holidays 0900-1700. Free. Cloister: May-Sep Tue-Sat 1000-1830, Mon 1000-1700; Oct-Apr Mon-Sat 1000-1700, closed Sun, public and religious holidays. E1.

Lisbon’s cathedral was built in 1147 on the site of a mosque by Dom Afonso Henríques in triumphant symbolism following the Moorish defeat. Not surprisingly, considering the crusading climate of the time, the cathedral is a built like a Norman fortress, with a muscular western façade of Romanesque and Gothic design, with two crenelleted, buttressed lateral towers separated by a rose window. French architect Mestre Roberto was inspired by the Romanesque Sé Velha in Coimbra. Of largely symbolic appeal, it is claimed Saint Anthony of Padua was baptized here in 1195.

When Afonso IV ascended the throne in the mid-14th century, a Gothic building frenzy ensued and the king had lofty ambitions to make the cathedral the royal pantheon. The chancel was enlarged and surrounded by an elegant ambulatory of nine Gothic chapels, containing retablos and tombs. Following the earthquake in 1755, sections of the south tower subsided and the chancel and royal tombs were completely destroyed. Continuous restoration projects have rendered the once-lavish interior sombre, with little light relief. Having said that, the chapel of Bartolomeu Joanes (1324) contains a baroque Christmas crib by Machado de Castro, and with rather fanciful terracotta figurines it borders on the kitsch. The retablo of Saint Vincent, the work of João Antunes, was extravagantly created during the reign of Dom Pedro II (between 1693 and 1712) using inlaid marbles and gilded wood.

Most interesting is the cloister, completed in 1325, which houses artefacts unearthed during excavation works that began in 1990, including fifth-century BC Phoenician ceramics, part of a Roman draining system and ceramics, animal bones and fish scales dating back to the Moorish occupation.

Pátio do Aljube, 5, T 21 751 32 00, F 21 757 18 58, museudacidade@mail.telepac.pt Free.

The Roman theatre, originally built in the first century BC by Emperor Augustus, was rebuilt in AD 57, during the time of Nero, to become one of the most important buildings of Olisipo (the name given to Lisbon by the Romans). The Roman Theatre Museum presents the theatre’s history from when it was used as a stage for public events from the fourth century until it was abandoned in the Middle Ages. In the 18th century, following the great earthquake, it was unearthed during the reconstruction of Lisbon but was buried again due to the rules laid down by urban planners of the time. It was inspired by the Roman theatre in Mérida, the best preserved Roman theatre on the Iberian Peninsula.

Largo de Santo António à Sé, T 21 886 04 47 . 0800-1930. Museum Tue-Sun 1000-1300, 1400-1800.

Adjacent to the cathedral, the baroque church of Saint Anthony was built on the site where Lisbon’s patron saint, Anthony of Padua, is said to have been born. Canonized in 1232, charismatic Saint Anthony, the most beloved of Lisbon’s popular saints, was truly a saint for all seasons. Protector of the city, advocate of tormented souls in purgatory, patron saint of marriage and of family homes, his persuasive powers gave him cult status. “Saint Anthony, Saint Anthony, find me a husband”, remains one of the most popular prayers. It is now traditional for the newly betrothed to visit the church and leave flowers as a gift for him on their wedding day.

Only the crypt remains of the original church, designed by Mateus Vicente in the 18th century, which was destroyed by the earthquake. The museum, next door, has a collection of iconography relating to the saint.

Heading up Rua da Sé onto Rua da Rosa, edged with dusty antique shops and tourist pit stops, streets fan out into warrens of tiny becos (blind alleys) and coiling travessas one medieval pile on top of another. This is the route of the unofficial tourist Tram 28.

Lisbon’s dazzling vistas are the most memorable images of the city and the Miradouro de Santa Luzia is one of the most romantic. Under vine-draped pergolas lovers swoon, old men philosophize and play cards and a Gulf Stream of tourists gasp and coo at the views across the Tagus. The tiled scenes on the outer walls of the Igreja de Santa Luzia depict Martim Moniz, Lisbon’s famous knight and martyr, who tied himself to the castle gate in order that Afonso Henríques’ crusaders could take Lisbon from the Moors.

The narrow, cobblestone streets of Rua de Chão da Feira lead up to the castle and its unashamadly touristy prelude of brash souvenir shops and suited waiters brandishing laminated menus.

Alternatively, climb Rua de São Tomé, where tourists flock, and justifiably so, to another stunning miradouro. The Largo das Portas do Sol, or the ‘Gate of the Sun’, was named after the city gates which stood here and the views are truly spectacular. To the north the pristine white towers of the Igreja de São Vicente de Fora and the dome of Igreja de Santa Engrácia, soar from above Alfama.

Largo Portas do Sol, 2, T 21 881 46 00, http://www.fress.press.pt/ing 1000-1700, closed Mon. E5.

The Decorative Arts Museum, housed in the reconstructed salons and living rooms of the 17th-century Azurara palace, is one of the most important and valuable collections in the country. It was bequeathed to the state by Ricardo Espiritú Santo Silva, a wealthy banker who bought the palace in 1947 and ranges from priceless porcelain from the Qing Dynasty to 16th-century Franco-Flemish tapestries, fine examples of Namban Art and magnificent pieces of Indo-Portuguese art, made from exotic woods and decorated with carved figures inspired by Hinduism.

The collection’s highlights reveal how the enlightened period of the discoveries displaced the fantastical ponderings of the medieval imagination. There is a 17th-century Indian Mogul writing desk made from teak, ebony and ivory and engraved with creatures and the symbol of the Tree of Life. There are extraordinary 15th-century salvars and painfully fragile porcelain from the Ming Dynasty which bears the armillary sphere of King Manuel I.

In the Dom José I room, the multi-functional table is considered one of the finest items of 18th-century furniture and a statement on the wit and whimsy which characterized the period. Made from rosewood, inlaid with tulipwood and ivory, the alternating tabletops can be leafed through like a book: chequers and chess – gambling had become the favourite pastime of the aristocracy – tea table, side table and a dressing table. One of the major crowd pleasers is the travel set made by goldsmith Tomás Correia in Lisbon in 1720 containing 33 utensils used for daily grooming and the preparation of a light meal. There is a charming courtyard café and the devoted and knowledgeable staff are keen to inform.

Dominating Lisbon’s skyline, the dramatic Castelo de São Jorge stands where Lisbon first began. A Roman castrum, Visigothic stronghold and Moorish fortress, it was finally taken in 1147 by King Afonso Henríques following a bloody four-month siege. The castle was named after the warrior Saint George, of ancient Cappadoccia, who became the unifying force for the thousands of Northern European crusaders who had been diverted en route to Palestine to aide Afonso in his quest. A statue of the jubilant warrior stands to the left of the main entrance. The multimedia show Olissipónia, is constructed on the site which was formerly the old Moorish palace, the Paço de Alcáçova, before becoming the official residence of the Portuguese monarchs until the 17th century. It is believed that it was here that King Manuel I heralded the return of Vasco da Gama following his first successful voyage to India. A portable headset commentary provides a whirlwind tour through Lisbon’s history.

After a long period of neglect, Salazar restored the castle in 1938 as tourist attraction and its sprawling ramparts and parapets are something of a Disneyfied anticlimax. Still, the 10 connecting towers provide vertigo-inducing vistas of the city below, best appreciated at dusk, when the palpable aura of a medieval epic descends.

From the top of the Tower of Ulysses the Câmera Escura periscope, daily Jun-Oct 1000-1830, Nov-May 1730 E2 reflects 360° images of Lisbon, with a multi-lingual commentary.

When Afonso Henríques sacked Lisbon in 1147, the Moors created a ghetto outside the walls named Mouraria, a commercial riverside district which today remains steeped in the memory of conquest. Historically, it has shared a bittersweet rivalry with it’s more easy- on-the-eye neighbour, Alfama. While it may be low on tourist magnets, it’s an intriguing earthy place. A combustible melting pot; African clubs and shops unfurl to the modern concrete mass of the Mouraria shopping centre, where African hairdressers rub shoulders with Indian and Chinese food stores and all manner of Brazilian kitsch and knock-off gold in between.

Mouraria has always been associated with fado. Casa de Severa on Largo da Severa, 2, was home to Maria Severa, who died aged 26 in 1846. Amália’s song There’s a celebration in Mouraria evokes the daily lives of its residents. It describes when, on the day of the procession of Our Lady of Health, during bouts of religious fervour, “even Rosa Maria...from Rua do Capelão seems virtuous”.

From Largo Portas do Sol, Rua de São Tomé leads to the Calçada de Graça, where, just off to the west, the Miradouro de Graça provides more breathtaking views over Lisbon. The terrace café is more popular with Lisboetas than tourists – especially on Sundays – enjoying ritualistic strong bicas, buttery torradas and the weekend edition of Diário de Notícias.

Tram 28 deposits passengers on the Largo de Graça, the area’s social hub which goes about its business with lackadaisical charm. Northeast from the Convento Nossa Senhora da Graça stretches scrupulously prosaic Rua da Graça punctuated by lively cafés, pastelarias and closet-sized shops selling all manner of bric-a-brac from gold watches to children’s toys, ironing boards and religious kitsch.

In the late 19th and early 20th century, the growing workforce of sea traders were housed in Victorian-style tenements in Graça. One such housing project, Vila Bertha, stands on Travessa da Pereira. Built in 1908, by Joaquim Francisco Tojal, it has an almost Dickensian quality. Named after the architect’s daughter, it is embellished with art nouveau wrought-iron motifs, which came to characterize the bourgeois homes of shop workers lining Graça’s quaint mews avenues.

Rua de Madre de Deus, T 21 814 77 47 Tue 1400-1800, Wed-Sun 1000-1800. Closed Mon and public holidays. E2.24, free Sun until 1400.

Housed in the serene Convento de Madre de Deus, the Tile Museum provides an engaging introduction to the origins of the distinctive Portuguese blue-and-white azulejo tiles. It’s worth a visit to appreciate the church of Madre de Deus alone. Founded in 1509 and reconstructed following the earthquake in 1755, it forms an integral part of the museum. The interior is overwhelming in its opulence, every inch of the extravagant baroque chapel covered with heady 16th-century paintings by Flemish masters, cooling azulejos and lofty statues.

The seemingly endless collection of tiles spans from the 13th to the 20th centuries and also includes informative displays outlining the production process and the evolution of the traditional Portuguese azulejo from its Moorish origins. There are 13th-century Mudéjar tiles from Seville decorated with traditional Islamic geometric forms, many already demonstrating Renaissance flourishes, flowers, leaves and imitations of patterned textiles.

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