 |
| A corner of Lisbon city (Portugal). Photo: Nguyen Son Hung |
The 4th most livable city in the world
Lisbon was founded by the Finicans and occupied by the Romans in the 2nd century. In 716, the Mauri took control of the city and in 1147, the Portuguese king Alfonse Henriques recaptured it and made Lisbon his capital. However, in 1775, after an earthquake, Lisbon collapsed.
Lisbon (Portuguese: Lisboa) currently has an area of 2,761 km2, an urban population of 3,028,000 (estimated in 2025) is the largest city and capital of Portugal, and is the westernmost continental capital city in Europe (ranked 2nd after Reykjavik). Located in the western part of the Iberian Peninsula, on the southern bank of the Tagus River, Lisbon is one of the oldest cities in the world and the second oldest capital city in Europe (ranked 2nd after Athens), predating other European-style capitals by a century. Lisbon is the political - economic - cultural center of the country, an alpha-level global city because of its importance in finance, commerce, fashion, media, entertainment, arts, education and tourism.
Lisbon's GDP is $179 billion and therefore has a per capita income of about $61,713, ranking it 40th in the world for highest income.
Lisbon's industry includes important sectors: oil (there are refineries right on the Tagus River), textile factories, shipbuilding and fishing, and car factories such as Auto Europa. Lisbon's seaport is one of the busiest in Europe. It is home to the important pan-European stock exchange Euronext.
According to lifestyle magazine Mondo , in 2021 Lisbon was the 4th most livable city in the world and the 9th most visited city in Southern Europe, after Instanbul, Rome, Barcelona, Milan, Athens, Venice, Marid and Florence with 3,639,900 people (2019 figures), estimated tourism revenue in 2023 is about 25 billion euros.
Lisbon has a rich architecture in Romanesque, Gothic, Manueline, Baroque, Medieval and Postmodern styles; besides the museums of archaeology, art, history, nature, science, architecture and technology, there are private museums collecting antiquities... There is a very strange museum: the National Coach Museum, the world's largest collection of royal carriages and carriages.
And special cultural features
In Portugal, a particularly impressive cultural feature in architecture and urban design is the intricately patterned ceramic tiles called Azulejo. The name “Azulejo” comes from Greek, meaning “small polished stone”. Initially, Azulejo ceramic tiles were painted with simple artistic patterns in neutral colors. Nowadays, Azulejo tiles are decorated with more elaborate patterns and brighter colors such as yellow, green, red, orange, etc. Azulejo is more than 500 years old and has become a traditional artistic element in Portugal, appearing everywhere such as churches, houses, public benches, fountains, etc.
The traditional azulejo has been upgraded in terms of technique, form, theme and application, becoming an indelible mark in Portuguese culture. Azulejo connects with the contemporary world in a special way, giving those who enjoy this art form a rich and different perception.
Besides, Lisbon has 2 world heritages (recognized by UNESCO): Belem Tower and Jeronimos Monastery.
Jeronimos Monastery near the Tagus River. The monastery became the royal cemetery of Aviz in the 16th century and was secularized on 28 December 1833 by State decree and transferred to the charitable organization Realcasa pia de Lisboa. The monastery was built in the early 1500s and is notable for its Manueline Gothic architecture. It was originally dedicated to Santa Maria de Belem and was where the monks of the Christ Order assisted seafarers in transit in Lisbon. The current structure was inaugurated by order of King Manuel I (1469-1521) in 1495 as the final resting place of the House of Aviz in the belief that an Iberian kingdom would rule after his death. It is a place where Vasco da Gama and his crew prayed and spent the night before setting off for the East in 1497. The construction of the large square monastery (55x55m) was started by Boitac. He built the domes and wide windows with decorative patterns on the delicate pillars. Later, Juan de Castilho changed the original round pillars into rectangular ones and decorated them in the Plateresque style. Each wing consists of 6 decorated domes. The four inner ones are supported by large pilasters, forming a wide dome. The corner cells are linked by cross-vaulted structures and richly decorated corner columns. In 1983, the Jeronimos Monastery was recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.
Belém is famous as the place where many great Portuguese explorers began their journeys of discovery. In particular, it is where Vasco da Gama set sail for India in 1497 and Pedro Álvares Cabral set sail for Brazil in 1499.
Perhaps the most famous feature of Belém is its tower, the Torre de Belém, an image of which is much used by the Lisbon tourist board. The tower was built as a fortified lighthouse at the end of the reign of Dom Manuel l (1515-1520) to guard the entrance to the harbour. It is located on a small island on the right side of the Tagus River, surrounded by water. Belém's other major historical building is the Mosteiro dos Jerónimos (Jerónimos Monastery), which the Torre de Belém was partly built to protect. Belém's most notable modern feature is the Padrão dos Descobrimentos (Monument of the Discoveries), built for the Portuguese World Fair in 1940. At the centre of Belém is the Praça do Império: gardens centred around a large fountain, which was installed during World War II. To the west of the gardens is the Centro Cultural de Belém. Belém is one of the most visited districts in Lisbon. It is home to the Estádio do Restelo, the home of Portuguese sports club Belenenses. Founded in 1919, Belenenses is one of the oldest sports clubs in Portugal, based at the Estadio do Restalo, which has a capacity of 25,000. The club plays in a variety of sports, including handball, futsal, athletics and rugby union. But it is most famous for being the first Portuguese football team to have a grass pitch with artificial lighting and is also the first Portuguese Premier League club to participate in the UFFA Europa League.
However, to this day, the Algama area is still home to fishermen and the poor, with many 18th-century houses in traditional Portuguese architecture, with colorful tiled facades and wrought iron balconies; there are narrow streets and small squares, which are home to the Festas de Santo Antonio - Saint Anthony Festival, a traditional and most famous festival in Lisbon, which takes place every June. The festival lasts about a week, focusing on June 16, with street parties, parades, kites, music and food creating a fun, bustling atmosphere with the integration of tourists and locals, truly experiencing the spirit of the Lisbon community.
Nguyen Son Hung
Source: https://baodongnai.com.vn/dong-nai-cuoi-tuan/202506/lisbon-thanh-pho-co-ven-song-1dd030d/
Comment (0)