LISBON

Portuguese Lisboa, city, seat of Lisboa distrito (district) and capital of Portugal. It is the country's chief port, largest city, and commercial, political, and tourist centre. It stands on the westernmost point of land of continental Europe. The city's name is a modification of the ancient Olisipo (variant Ulyssipo), and its founding has been variously attributed to Ulysses (Greek: Odysseus), the hero of Homer's Odyssey, to Elisha, grandson of the Hebrew patriarch Abraham, and, more credibly, to Phoenician colonists. Lisbon owes its historical prominence to its superb natural harbour, one of the most beautiful in the world. The city lies on the north bank of the Tagus River (Rio Tejo), about eight miles (13 kilometres) from the river's entrance into the Atlantic Ocean. From the ocean upstream to the city, the river is almost straight and about two miles wide. It is spanned, on the west side of the city, by the 25th of April Bridge (formerly called the Salazar Bridge), the longest suspension bridge in western Europe. Just east of the bridge, the Tagus suddenly broadens into a bay seven miles wide called the Sea of Straw (Mar de Palha)a reference to the sheen of the water. Scenically spectacular though it may be, this hill-cradled bay of burnished water lies on a strategic sea route and serves as a busy port, handling much of the exports and imports of Portugal and Spain. Portuguese Lisboa, city, seat of Lisboa distrito (district) and capital of Portugal. It is the country's chief port and largest city and stands 8 miles (13 km) upstream from the westernmost point of the European continent, where the Tagus (Tejo) River flows into the Atlantic Ocean. At Lisbon the Tagus widens to form a 7-mile- (11-kilometre-) wide bay called the Sea of Palha. On both sides of the river the land rises to gently rolling hills. The Baixa, the city centre and commercial heart of Lisbon, lies on the north bank of the Tagus near the water's edge; it was completely rebuilt after a devastating earthquake in 1755. Many other features of the historic city also have been preserved. Traces of the Moorish walls remain. The Avenida da Liberdade, which is the city's main promenade, has retained its wide, blue-mosaic sidewalks graced with palms and shade trees, fountains, and ornamental waters. A formal garden is located at its upper end, and outdoor cafs enhance the avenue. Most of the city's churches, decorated in Baroque, Rococo, or rocaille styles, were restored after the 1755 earthquake. The 14th-century Carmo (Carmel) Church, however, was left as it was, and the roofless shell is now an archaeological museum. The Castle of St. George (So Jorge) overlooks the city from the hill where Lisbon was first founded. The Tower of Belm and the Jernimos Monastery are among other architectural monuments. In the 20th century Lisbon has emerged as a bustling metropolis, its growth spurred by tourism and commerce. The 4-story buildings of the Avenida da Liberdade and its ancillary streets (Avenidas Novas) have, for example, been almost totally replaced by 10-story buildings in more modern styles. The municipality also has built new neighbourhoods in the north and northwest sectors, and other building has pushed westward toward Belm. The part of greater Lisbon along the south bank of the Tagus has become Portugal's most important manufacturing centre; the production of cement, steel, cork, and plastics and the storage of grain are important activities. Other industries include the production of soap, munitions, steel, glass, and electronic equipment and the refining of petroleum. The University of Lisbon (founded 1288) is the principal centre of higher education; other educational institutions include the Higher Technical Institute and a teaching hospital. The city's many museums have collections of modern, antique, sacred, decorative, and folk arts. Public transportation is provided by a subway, supplemented by cable cars. Rail lines connect to the port and to other points in Portugal and Spain. Lisbon's international airport is located 4.5 miles (7 km) north of the city. Area city, 34 square miles (87 square km). Pop. (1988 est.) 830,500. Additional reading General Fodor's Lisbon, 1986 (1986), provides general descriptive information. David Wright and Patrick Swift, Lisbon: A Portrait and a Guide (1971), gives thorough coverage of all quarters of the city, its history, monuments, cultural institutions, and contemporary life, and also includes excursions outside Lisbon. Also see Carol Wright, Lisbon (1971), on the city and the life of its inhabitants at various times of day, as well as information for the visitor to Lisbon and its environs; and Vivian Rowe, The Road to Lisbon (1962), mainly concerned with the journey from France to Lisbon but including some material on the attractions of the city itself. History Jlio De Castilho, Lisboa Antiga: O Bairro Alto de Lisboa, 2nd ed., 5 vol. (190204), and Lisboa Antiga: Bairros Orientais, 2nd ed., 12 vol. (193438); Thomas D. Kendrick, The Lisbon Earthquake (1956), a study of the 1755 earthquake and its impact on European philosophers and theologians; Janet Schaw, Journal of a Lady of Quality: Being the Narrative of a Journey from Scotland to the West Indies, North Carolina, and Portugal, in the Years 17741776, 3rd ed. edited by Evangeline Walker Andrews and Charles McLean Andrews (1939, reissued 1971); and Rose Macaulay, They Went to Portugal (1946, reissued 1985), on the British in Portugal. Blake Ehrlich Lus de Sousa Rebelo History The early period Prehistoric to Moorish times The valley in which the heart of Lisbon now lies was, in prehistoric times, the bed of a forked branch of the Tagus. (The subway now forks at the same spot.) No evidence has been uncovered to show who were the first residents on the hills surrounding the valley. Although it seems likely that the city was founded c. 1200 BC as a trading station by the far-ranging Phoenicians, there is no unassailable proof of the story. The city's ancient name, Olisipo, may be derived from the Phoenician alis ubbo (delightful little port) or from the legend that the city's founder was Ulysses. Whatever the city's origins, it is known that the area was under Roman domination from 205 BC to c. AD 409 and that Julius Caesar raised the settlement to the dignity of a municipium and named it Felicitas Julia. A few inscribed stones remain as evidence of the Roman presence. The Romans lost the city to the migratory peoples known as the Alani, who were driven out by the Suebi, who in turn were conquered by the Visigoths. The base plan of the original fortifications is thought to be Visigothic and, if so, is the sole vestige of their reign. The Muslims of North Africa took Lisbon when they overran the Iberian Peninsula in the 8th century; they stayed for 433 years, despite incursions by the Normans in 844 and by Alfonso VI of Castile and Len in 1093. Under the Moors the city was known under variations of Lisbon: Luzbona, Lixbuna, Ulixbone, and Olissibona. Some authorities contend that the Muslims took this name from the conquered Roman castle, but Lisbon historians suggest that it derives from gua boa (good water). The Portuguese conquest Behind their walls, the Moors were able to hold out for months when the city was assailed by crusader forcesEnglish, Flemish, Norman, and Portuguese under Afonso Henriques, the Portuguese king. The city finally fell in 1147 and successfully resisted Moorish attempts to win it back. The Moorish alcazar was transformed into a Portuguese royal palace, and, according to legend, the Lisbon Cathedral (S Patriarcal) was converted from a mosque (with subsequent restorations in the styles of many periods after fires and earthquakes). There is no evidence, however, of a building on the site of the cathedral before the time of Afonso Henriques. Although 1,400 years of occupation and invasion have left almost no trace among the stones of the capital, the presence of the outlander is still visible in the faces of the inhabitants, which range in cast from the Scandinavian to the Mauritanian. After winning Lisbon, King Afonso established his court 105 miles to the north-northeast, atop a cliff at Coimbra. Lisbon did not become the national capital until more than a century later, in 1256. Within its Moorish walls, of which some traces still remain, medieval Lisbon measured 1,443 feet at its widest and 1,984 feet at its longest, descending the hill below the castle. Even before the Portuguese conquest, some houses had already been built outside the walls toward the river. The site of this first Lisbon is occupied by the lively Alfama quarter, which has kept the labyrinthine medieval street plan. King Dinis I (12791325) decreed that Portuguese, the dialect of the Porto region, was to be the national language. He founded the university in Lisbon in 1290, and during his reign, other hilltops around the central valley were crowned with convents and churches. In 137273 Lisbon was besieged and burned by the Castilians, who forced King Ferdinand I, an unsuccessful contender for the Castilian throne, to repudiate his alliance with England; thereafter the King swiftly erected new defenses. His wallmore than three miles long, with 77 towers and 38 gates and enclosing more than 247 acreswithstood the renewed Castilian attack of 1384, which followed Ferdinand's death.