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Information on Lisbon Portugal, and travel to there. First glimpses of the city Some physical aspects, Distribution of the quarters Panorama from the eastern hills, A night effect, The lights of Lisbon Some principal buildings The Church of
S. Vicente.
Travel Lisbon Portugal
From the panoramic point of view, those capitals which sit by the side of the salt waves possess an incalculable advantage over those that are placed inland. In this respect, London, Paris, Berlin, Brussels, and a host of other chief cities, however each may differ from the other in detail, suffer in common at least one detrimental factor. One arrives by way of the backs of houses for such is the railroad's accepted path. Indeed, amidst the confusion of suburban stations and of close-pressing masonry, to the newcomer, at all events, the central point of the city comes with unheralded and disconcerting suddenness. One has entered by the back door, as it were, and is flung out into the streets with no more pomp than that enjoyed by a pantomime clown in his passage through a stage trap-door. Of those cities more favoured in their yield of first impressions there is none more fortunate than Lisbon. As the approaching vessel steams up the broad flood of the Tagus, the rolling hills and mountains become increasingly splashed with the white walls of villages and seaside resorts. And then, visible from afar for all the world to see, the stately buildings of Lisbon itself, mounting high upon their seven hills, pile themselves upwards in very regal fashion to the north of the stream. To the stranger, moreover, Lisbon is peculiarly kind in a topographical sense. Never was a town which revealed its ramifications with more readiness. From the Prada do Commercio (Anglica, Black Horse Square) by the water's edge, the chief commercial streets of the town run parallel towards the Praga Dom Pedro iv. A spot that has also suffered an English re-christening, and that, so far as the tourist is con cerned, answers to the name of Rolling Motion Square. Almost in a straight line from this point again proceeds the great Avenida da Liberdade. Thus the centre of the town occupies a well-defined valley upon which the surrounding quarters look down from the hills upon which they stand. The result of this convenient scheme is that the stranger is scarcely ever at a loss for his bearings. Whether he be above or below, the outlines of the city reveal themselves with equal clearness an advantage that very few towns of the kind are fortunate enough to possess. From the eastern heights one may see Lisbon at its best, so far as panorama is concerned. One may look down from here and mark the spread of the central town, the bold sweep of the buildings upon the hills, the blue Tagus beyond, and the mountains in the background that go swelling to the horizon. The castle is the spot most generally chosen for the purpose, and it serves well enough, but the scenic effect from the less-known church of S. Gens is yet finer and more comprehensive. Seen from this point of vantage, the remaining six eminences for Lisbon is one of the many cities that claim seven hills upon which to recline stand out in all their pride. From one's feet the roofs sink downwards, fall away at intervals to reveal the sites of the Pradas and squares and the verdure of the Avenida and the Gardens, and rise again upon the other side. And there in the background, soaring up well above the further rows of masonry, are the pure white domes and pinnacles of the wonderful basilica of the Estrella an architectural monu ment that would beautify even squalid surroundings, to say nothing of the charming neighbourhood from out of which it springs. The church of S. Gens is little known to the visitor. It is, in a sense, off the beaten track. But there are residents of Lisbon who have made it a spot of pilgrimage, and who never weary of the sight that it yields. The lights of Lisbon ! The phrase comes with a hollow and melodramatic ring. But that is through no fault of the Portuguese capital. It does not, moreover, detract in the least from the beauty of the actual scene. Viewed from the prosaic intimacy of the streets them selves, the illumination, from a practical point of view, is very fine. From above, it is still that and a great deal beyond. Rows and clusters of gleaming white that light up stately buildings, monuments, and trees, holding them up out of the darkness with just sufficient emphasis to add a sense of mystery to the whole this is only a portion of the picture. Upon the unseen Tagus are coloured gleams, moving, and the brilliant collections of twinkling points that show the great liners at rest. It is a fairy-like scene that spreads itself below for one's delectation. They are no bad judge of spectacles, those who climb up to the church of S. Gens of a night. So far as the notable buildings and public places of the capital are concerned, these are already too well known to be dealt with seriatim and at length here. The castle of St. George, the municipal palace, the great bull-ring that lies in the outskirts by the Campo Pequeno, the palace of the Necessi dades, the grim but imposing penitentiary all these and the rest of the accepted show-places of the town stand in need of no further descriptive efforts. It is the same with the principal churches. The ancient cathedral with its twin towers and sacerdotal treasury, the Basilica Estrella, the church of S. Roque with its wonderful shrine and its museum with the gorgeous vestments in gold, purple, green, and white, its colossal candlesticks and ornaments of silver, and its general array of churchly pomp almost overpowering in its magnifi cence these are as familiar as the first. The stately church of S. Vicente de Fora claims a special mention, since it holds the embalmed bodies of the later Portuguese royalties, amongst whom now repose those of the murdered King Carlos and of the Crown Prince Luiz Felipe. The spot, with its funereal hangings and its biers with the glass lidded coffins, is at all times sufficiently melancholy. But now, with the addition of the last two royal bodies, the pathos of tragedy has settled with deeper gloom upon the atmosphere of the place. But of the crime and its results more later. Of the public places in the central town, the best known to the casual visitor are, of course, the Praga Dom Pedro iv. And the Praga do Commercio. There are few, indeed, even of those casual visitors who come ashore for a few hours from a passing steamer who have not been taken to admire the snake-like pattern of the former's pavement. The place is the Mecca of all Lisbon guides worthy of their salt. The impression of the waving black and white lines is held to produce a sensation of giddiness in one who passes over them. In some instances the effect of the place may, perhaps, justify this claim. But, whether counterfeit or real, it is best to admit the emotion without further ado for the sake of the guide's peace of mind. In any case, the great square, with the fine buildings that border it, its trees, and the statue of Dom Pedro iv. In its centre, con stitutes the especially imposing central point of the capital. The large square of the Praca do Commercio is equally well known. Bordering the Tagus, one of the chief highways from the river to the central town runs through the spot. The Pra9a, the surrounding buildings of which are almost entirely devoted to government and judicial offices, boasts a very fine arch facing the Tagus, and in its centre is the well-known statue of King Jose i. upon the black horse that gives to the Pra$a its English name. Other well-known Pra9as are those of Camoes, Principe Real, and Dom Luiz I., while amongst others beyond there is the broad and luxuriant garden of the Estrella, and that of S. Pedro d' Alcantara, from which elevated spot a fine view of the main town offers itself. To the credit of the civic fathers of Lisbon be it said that the rapid growth of the town has not been effected at the expense of beauty. Indeed, with the spread of the buildings the increase of parks and of other pleasurable places has been at least in proportion. The latest, which is in the making, and by far the largest of all, is the Parque Eduardo vn., christened in honour of our own king, whose popularity during his last visit, by the way, evoked the most gratifying demonstrations. Of this the nomenclature of the new park is one of the proofs.
Situated upon the outskirts of the town at the further end of the great Avenida, the place is destined to serve as the driving and motoring ground of the Lisbon fashionable world as well as the haunt of the bourgeois. By far the most ambitious effort of the kind that has yet been attempted, the laying out of this large open space speaks well for the spirit of enterprise of the city by the Tagus. If one would obtain some insight into the affairs of Portugal overseas and the Portuguese colonies, remnants though they are, are of an importance not generally realised by English folk a visit to the Geographical Institute in the Rua de S. Antao is of inestimable service. In the first place, the Institute is exceedingly well found, arranged, and managed. From cocoa, tobacco, and rubber down to the glaring native African idols, each colony is appropriately represented, both in its products and objects of curiosity, whether natural or artificial. Perhaps, however, one of the most interesting of all the records within the building is that stamped upon a map of the world that all but covers one end of the large hall. Upon this are traced the courses of the old navigators of Portugal. Marked accurately in accordance with the ancient logs, the tracks of each mariner's voyage are clearly distinguished from the rest. There is an extraordinary fascination in these lines that meander across the great map. One may follow Vasco da Gama as he bore southward, breasting the unknown seas, reaching the end of Africa and doubling its Cape, to strike out across the ocean once more, and to eat his way, undaunted, into the fiercer tropics, until he found India at the end. One may watch the tracks of Magalhaes as he, too, sent the bluff bow of his small vessel southward but to the west instead of the east and won his way from heat to bleakness and grey skies as he threaded the tortuous passage of the grim Magellan Straits, and so to the Pacific. There are the records of many more of Tristao de Cunha, Pedro Alvares Cabral, Bartolomeu Diaz, and of the rest of this heroic band of explorers. No written matter could surpass the eloquence of these plain lines that stretch across a world whose waters sparkled and raged for the first time in the eyes of Europeans. Here and there the steady line of the course sheers abruptly to one side, flung to right or left by some pro longed tempest or a doubting in the mind of the early navigator. Then it leads ahead again, bearing straight onwards in renewed confidence as the explorer pressed on afresh in search of the mysterious unknown. The romance of Portugal's grandeur is surely one of the unequalled in the history of the nations of the world. With the tropical phosphorescence streaming from the quarters of her daring craft, the nation shot up to the heights of glory like a rocket, the brilliant stars of literature rising in sympathy in its train. And came down as suddenly as it rose as does the rocket stick and the dark exhausted shell of the flames ! What has been before may occur again so much is a platitude. But the feats of these great navigators stand alone, never more to be emulated. The veil has been lifted now in its entirety ; the world has shrunk like an over-ripe apple, and the possibility of such vivid experiences and emotions is irretrievably lost to it.
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