Hello, and welcome to my blog 🙂
I hope to find the entire community well and healthy 😉
Let's finish our visit to the city of Lisbon! There is a fado that goes like this:
"Lisboa menina e moça, menina
Da luz que meus olhos veem tão pura
Teus seios são as colinas, varina
Pregão que me traz à porta, ternura
Cidade a ponto luz bordada
Toalha à beira mar estendida
Lisboa menina e moça, amada
Cidade mulher da minha vida.
Composition: Ary Dos Santos / Fernando Tordo / Paulo Carvalho
I'll leave it in Portuguese, simply because it looks strange when I translate it into English 😯
We ended this beautiful walk in Terreiro do Paço or Praça do Comércio, which is located next to the Tagus. It is one of the largest squares in Europe and is limited by seventy-nine arches. The buildings surrounding the square recently recovered their original color, yellow, but after the 1910 Revolution they were painted pink. This square was the place where the Royal Palace was located, which contained more than seventy thousand volumes and hundreds of works of art in its library, regrettably destroyed in the 1755 earthquake. Today the buildings are used by governmental and cultural institutions, hotels, etc . Here we can find Fernando Pessoa's (Portuguese poet) favorite coffee, Martinho da Arcada.
Right in the center of the square, as you can see from the photos, we have the equestrian statue of D.José that was erected in 1775.
You can also see the famous Triumphal Arch on which four great names from our history stand out: Marquês do Pombal, Viriato, Vasco da Gama and Nuno Álvares Pereira and the following inscription:
"VIRTVTIBVS MAIORVM VT SIT OMNIBVS DOCVMENTO.PPD “
(“To the Virtues of the Greatest, so that it may serve as a teaching for all. Dedicated at public expense.”)
And now a curiosity, there is a viewpoint here, open to the public since 2013 :-)
For many years the entrance to the nobility was via the marble steps of Cais das Colunas and many prominent figures such as heads of state and even Queen Elizabeth II of England were received here.
It was precisely there that we said goodbye to the city, a favorite place for residents and tourists to meditate, watch the sunset, listen to music and of course take photographs :-)
This pier was built after the earthquake and may have had a touch of Masonic architecture as the columns are reminiscent of Solomon's temple.
Here it was still possible to hear good music from street artists who choose this spot to promote their work.
We got back on the train and calmly returned to our city with full hearts.
See you around.
I hope you enjoyed! Be happy 😊
Wishing you much peace and health
Those who pass by us do not go alone. They leave a bit of themselves, taking a piece of us."
Author: Antoine de Saint-Exupery, The Little Prince.
"The Template cover used in this post is from Canva"
Text & Photography by @Onyfest
With love 