MikePadgett.com

Lisbon

— Like the explorers in their carracks and caravels, Lisbon's status as hub of the whole world has long since set sail, but there's still much to discover here.”

Rua Afonso de Albuquerque, Lisbon

The proud Padrão dos Descobrimentos (“Monument to the Discoveries”) at Belém almost strides right off the waterfront and into the Tejo. A jostling line of artists, scientists and sailors queues for a view of the sea with sponsor and founder Infante Henrique at front. This is the pride and heritage of Portugal as represented by Salazar’s Estado Novo.

At Cais do Sodré they built the carracks and caravels to navigate the still unknown seas. From Belém they sailed for new worlds and brought back untold riches. Africa, India, Malacca, China and possibly Australia. Gold, silver and pearls. Nutmeg, cloves and cinammon. With the proceeds they built a great faraway empire, ruled from the great city of Lisbon.

Like Rome, Lisbon was built on seven hills, though most of these have considerably steeper gradients than their Roman cousins. Those less inclined to inclines can always take it easy on the funicular.

Lisbon spreads from the valley floor by the Tejo estuary, up and along the sides of the seven hills. The hilltop bairros each retain their own distinct character.

Cut to today. As we scaled the narrow, hot streets of the central districts, I had the impression of slow decay. Broken pavements, cracked walls and graffiti. Exposed wiring and struggling scaffold. Proud ceramic and stucco façades peeling off. Grass growing in gutters. Odours of cooking oil and dust and urine.

These are the small details that give Lisbon a gritty, candid sort of charm. Unpolished as it may sometimes seem, it’s safer and a whole lot friendlier than many other European cities. There’s also ample evidence of new development, particularly down at the dockyards by the Avenida de Brasília. The renaissance of the Chiado quarter after the destruction of a massive fire in 1988 also points to a firm future.

Architecture

To any Lisboeta with an awareness of history, architecture must appear ephemeral anyway. In 1755, a massive earthquake and ensuing tsunami destroyed almost the whole city and much of Portugal’s thriving southern region.

As a result, little evidence of Lisbon’s ancient structures remains. In addition, the Marquês de Pombal’s reconstruction programme, which recognised the necessity for speed and economy rather than inspiration and elegance, ensured what now seems an rather unenduring rebirth of the urban landscape.

Later, a sustained period of economic decline due to expensive wars and the early independence of rich Portuguese colonies did little for the civic engagement and patronage. Pombal’s Lisbon has consequently grown rather tatty, while the jarring, modern experiments of the Amoreiras district do little for the outer city.

Yet the very paucity of Lisbon’s older architectural heritage has meant that the architecture that did survive beyond 1755 is rightly cherished.

The Sé de Lisboa, whose western façade dates from the original version of 1147, has undergone numerous additions and transitions throughout its history but it has never been laid low by nature.

Less fortunate was the Carmo Convent, whose buildings and legendary library were ruined by the earthquake. However the site was never cleared and the ribs of the nave vault still stand tall today, like the bones of some enormous, forgotten beast.

Downstream and beyond the dockyards in Belém, the Mosteiro dos Jerónimos (begun in 1502 and mostly complete by 1580) is another survivor of 1755. Clearly visible in a Renaissance map of the city which hangs today in the Decorative Arts Collection of the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga (see Art below), the Mosteiro dos Jerónimos is depicted in a location on the banks of the Tejo.

However when the high waters of the 1755 tsunami receded, this extraordinary monastery – constructed in white lioz limestone in the Manueline style – now found itself several hundred metres from the waterline.

These same receding waters came close to leaving the Torre de Belém high and dry. Also built with lioz limestone in the Manueline style, this tower has always reminded me of certain Indian religious structures such as the Harimandir Sahib at Amritsar – a curious comparison given that the Portuguese expeditions to India began here.

Together, the Mosterio and the Torre were classified a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983.

Food

With so much coastline, much of Portuguse cuisine is synonymous with fresh fish. Beside the beach at Portinho da Arrábida, both J and I had very tasty peixe espada or cutlassfish straight off the grill with boiled potatoes.

Later in the trip, I tackled a large plate of prawns at local cuisine specialist O Fumeiro (Rua Conceição da Glória, just off Liberdade), followed by a stew of cod and beans. Simple but delicious.

Apart from seafood, Lisbon can also boast of a disproportionately high number of excellent vegetarian eateries. Our best (and most simple) meals were enjoyed at Jardim de los Sentidos just above Praça da Alegria and the excellent buffet at Terra near Principe Real.

For lunch, we made a couple of refuelling stops at the renowned Pois,Café in the Bairro Sé and currently for sale. Excellent gazpacho for a super hot day!

Art

At the home of Portugal’s foremost modern art collection – the Berardo Museum – we were unlucky enough to find the permanent collection closed to the public. Temporary exhibits were accessible in the meantime.

The Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga covers art from medieval up to modern.

In addition to minor works by Lucas Cranach, Memling, Dürer, Gonçalves and Piero Della Francesca, the MNAA displays a broad range from the Flemish Late Gothic period, most of which are atelier productions.

The highlight of the whole collection is Bosch’s triptych masterpiece The Temptation of Saint Anthony (c. 1500).

Decorative arts and religious devotional artefacts are contained in a fascinating separate collection, foremost of which is the recently restored Custódia de Belém (a Catholic monstrance) dating from 1506.

My personal cultural highlight, on a path less travelled by tourists, was the Museu Calouste Gulbenkian.

Gulbenkian was an Armenian businessman and petroleum expert. He was one of the last great entrepreneurs in a time when personal fortunes were increasingly replaced by corporate, indeed national interests. Fortunately for the city of Lisbon, where Gulbenkian lived from 1942 until his death in 1955, he was also a collector and philanthropist. The eponymous Museum a few blocks north of Parque Eduardo VII now hosts his art collection.

The collection is eclectic, consisting of artefacts from the ancient civilisations, decorative arts from the Near and Far East and paintings by artists including Van der Weyden, Bouts, Ghirlandaio, Rembrandt, Guardi, Turner, Millet and Renoir. Perhaps the most exciting aspect of the museum comes last of all: a small chamber entirely dedicated to the jewellery and glasswork of René Lalique.