ALL I NEED IS MY PASSPORT

October 2021

 

I have been wandering around Lisbon flummoxed.  I am staying at a very nice hotel in the Braixa area, but directly across the street are old lovely buildings that appear to be, not only neglected, but abandoned.

One can travel around the world and never get questions answered but thanks to an expatriate American that has been more than generous with her time, and a lot of cab drivers, I am beginning to understand.

I really knew nothing of the history of Portugal, well sure Vasco de Gama is known to any school child, the horrors he inflicted, not so much. So I knew of Portugal’s colonialist period.  I have already discussed the great earthquake of 1755, but that is, as they say, ancient history.

The colonialist Portugal does not explain the abandoned buildings across from this modern, upscale hotel.

I have since learned that much of what I see can be laid at the feet of the Estado Novo or The Second Portuguese Republic.

The Estado Novo, was a product of conservative and autocratic ideologies developed by Antonio de Oliveira Salazar, the President of the Council of Ministers from 1932, until he had a stroke and was unable to continue holding the office.

The Estado Novo movement was one of the longest running authoritarian regimes in Europe.

The regime was driven by a very conservative, corporate oriented, nationalistic, pro-Catholic bias.  The intent was to create a multi-continental nation that included Angola, Mozambique and other Portuguese territories.

From 1950 until Salazar’s death in 1970, Portugal saw its GDP per capita increase at an annual average rate of 5.7 per cent.

Under normal circumstances, this would be a laudable goal, and yet Portugal had the lowest per capita income in Western Europe.  It also had the highest rate of preventable deaths and infant mortality in Europe.

Today, Salazar’s Portugal is summed up as repressive and backward.  After the coup of 1974 that removed him,  a democratic Portugal came into being, it  joined the European Union in 1986, and living standards have risen, and Portugal is coming into its own.

There are other reasons for the buildings of disrepair I see and that is one you can find in so many countries of the world, an antiquated inheritance system.  In Portugal if you do not leave a will, your property is divided equally amongst your family members.  I imagine it was difficult to find the money to write up a will under an authoritarian regime, when you were too poor to even visit a doctor, and because of this many of the buildings I see, while having a mortgage that was paid off ages ago, is owned by an unknown number of family members whom probably can not agree on red or white wine with dinner, let alone what to do with a piece of property, that frankly isn’t costing you a dime if it just sits there and rots.

Portugal is a gem, and with help from the EU and debt forgiveness from other foreign entities, it is slowly moving forward.

If one simply looks at the architecture you can see there have been glorious spurts of energy.  There are buildings that date prior to the 18th century, stunning art deco buildings, and modern sky scrapers. It is a very complicated, and overlooked pearl.

I have just a few more things to add regarding my last day in Lisbon.  The first is the Museu da Agua.  I love aqueducts, they are such an efficient way to deliver water, and date back to the beginning of time.  You can spot an ancient aqueduct when driving around Lisbon, and at the end of one of the sections is the museum.

Built between 1731 and 1799, the Águas Livres Aqueduct formed a vast system that ran for approximately 36 miles from springs north-west of Lisbon to the capital.

The museum sits in a building designed, in 1746,  by the Hungarian architect Carlos Mardel. The fountain shown above pours into a reservoir built to receive and distribute the water brought to the city by the Águas Livres Aqueduct.  The tank has a capacity of roughly 200,000 cubic feet.  The reservoir has been classified as a national monument since 1910.

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April 25th Monument

The statue is in honor of the Carnation Revolution. This was the military coup that overthrew with authoritarian Estado Novo regime.  It sits atop of a hill that looks down to the Tagus River.  Below the statue is the Eduardo VII Park, the largest park in central Lisbon and designed by architect Keil do Amaral. The park was named for King Edward VII of the UK, who visited Portugal in 1903 to strengthen relations between the two countries.

Looking down towards the river you see another statue.  That is a remarkable statue dedicated to Marques de Pombal, a Portuguese statesman and diplomat who effectively ruled the Portuguese Empire from 1750 to 1777. Pombal led Portugal’s recovery from the 1755 Lisbon earthquake and modernized the kingdom’s administrative, economic, and ecclesiastical institutions.

The statue is rather impressive.

Wandering towards Eduardo VII Park I tripped over this Fernando Botero sculpture.

Lisbon is a city that takes time to get to know.  It is a very small town that feels like a very large city.  It is approximately 39 square miles with a population of just under 550,000.  That is not a large population for a city that size. Simply compare that to my home town San Francisco, with a size of just under 47 square miles and a population 873,965.

Lisbon has a lot of ah ha moments, getting lost, wandering alleyways is the only way to really see the city and that is what I did.

The candle shop Caza das Vellas Loreto is one of the oldest shops in Lisbon. Opened in 1789 the shop has been in the hands of the same family for seven generations. It was near halloween so the window display was orange, but it varies in color with the seasons.

A dear friend sent me an email on my last day insisting I get to Luvaria Ulisses.  It was worth the very short walk. At most, 2 people can step into the store at one time, and they produce stunning gloves in every imaginable color. Opened in 1923 to cater to the stylish women of Lisbon it is a gem.

There are hundreds of moments like this if you let yourself get lost in Lisbon.

 

October 2021

 

Comércio Square

This is the Rua Augusta Arch because it is found at the end of the street that bears that same name. The arch faces Comércio Square. Designed by Portuguese architect Santos de Carvalho to celebrate the reconstruction of Lisbon after the 1755 earthquake. It was not completed until 1873.

The arch opens up to the Comércio Square.  This is Lisbon’s main square and it was built on the site where the old Royal Palace used to exist before it was destroyed by the earthquake of 1755.

In the center of the square is a bronze equestrian statue of Joseph I of Portugal (1750 – 1777) the King of Portugal during the Great Earthquake, it was designed by Machado de Castro in 1775. The world has plenty of statues of men on horses, but what I loved about this one was the elephant on one side.

Casa do Bicos

Casa dos Bicos was built in the early 16th century its curious façade of spikes was apparently influenced by Italian Renaissance palaces and the Portuguese Manueline styles. It survived the  1755 Lisbon earthquake but over time was abandoned as a residence and eventually used as a warehouse. After a renovation it became the headquarters of the José Saramago Foundation and the Museum of Lisbon.

José de Sousa Saramago was a Portuguese writer and recipient of the 1998 Nobel Prize in Literature. A proponent of libertarian communism, Saramago criticized institutions such as the Catholic Church, the European Union and the International Monetary Fund. His books have sold millions of copies and have been translated into at least 25 languages.

In front of the building is this lone olive tree where Saramago’s ashes are buried.

Mosteiro dos Jerónimos

In 1496, King Manuel I (1495–1521) petitioned the Holy See for permission to construct a monastery as thanksgiving to the Virgin Mary to celebrate Vasco de Gama’s voyage to India.

The construction of the monastery and church began in 1501, and was not completed for another 100 years.

The Monastery was once filled with monks of the Order of St Jerome, whose job for four hundred years was to comfort sailors and pray for the king’s soul. When the order was dissolved in 1833, the monastery was used as a school and orphanage, until about 1940.

This is looking back towards the front door of the church. The church is unique in that it has a single nave, but what makes it amazing is its roof and columns.

Inside is the tomb of Vasco de Gama.

 

Attached to the church is the cloister.

The cloister is one of the most impressive examples of Manueline architecture in Portugal.

The construction was lead by Diogo de Boltaca and began early in the 16th century.

However it was João de Castilho who was responsible for most of the stonework that decorates the arches and balustrades.  Work that is just amazing to behold.

In 1985 when Portugal joined the European Economic Community, the formal ceremonies were held in the cloister.

On December 13, 2007, the Treaty of Lisbon was signed at the monastery. The treaty laid down the basis for the reform of the European Union.

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MAAT

The Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology (MAAT) is a project of the EDP Foundation (Energía Del Pacífico, in other words, the electric company). The museum consists of two separate buildings.  The big brick building was Portugal’s first power station and the second is a modern building designed by British architect Amanda Levete. The modern building is one big swooping façade covered in 15,000 three-dimensional white ceramic tiles There is a stairway that leads to the roof of the modern building that gives a spectacular view of the Tagus River.

The former power station dates from 1908 and was in use until 1975. It opened to the public as a museum in 1990. The industrial architecture is immaculately preserved, and this photographer thought she had died and gone to heaven when she saw all of the machinery.

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This is part of the present exhibit in the modern building titled The Big Dream.

Ai Wei Wei in Lisbon

This sculpture is outside of a building that once was a naval rope factory, the Cordoaria Nacional.  It is now a special exhibition hall and presently is housing an exhibit by Ai Wei Wei.

 

October 2021

Azulejos were originally Moorish, then Spanish, and later a Portuguese art form.  These tiles have been produced since the 14th century.

At first, the term was used to denote only North African mosaics, but it became the accepted word for an entirely decorated tile about 5 to 6 inches square.

Azulejo comes from the Arabic word az-zulayj, meaning “little stone” or “polished stone.” The Moors painted their tiles in Arab-influenced zellige style, using amazingly elaborate geometric patterns adhering to the Islamic tradition of ornamentation devoid of human figures.

The industry grew popular in Lisbon around 1550 when immigrating Flemish artists began experimenting with the art form. This was during the reigns of Philip II, III, and IV when Portugal was struggling to  become independent of Spain.  Spain virtually ceased to manufacture them by the 18th century.

Portuguese exports of tiles to the Azores, Madeira, and Brazil began in the 17th century. Azulejos produced in Puebla, Mexico, later became the tile of this art form that most westerners are aware of.

Initially, one-colour versions of the tiles were used in Portugal in decorative chessboard patterns.

Eventually variations began to include polychrome designs;

Then they began to include scenes with military or religious themes;

Some of my favorites were ridiculously fun singeries (French for Monkey Trick) which depicted monkeys in human roles.

The use of ridiculous depictions of mythical beings also added a touch of whimsey to many of the pieces.

The earthquake of 1755 did a lot of damage to the grand buildings covered in Azulejos that one associates with Portugal.

The use of continuous blue tiles, accented with blue balconies is a real attention getter in the narrow streets of the Santa Cruz neighborhood. This simpler style of tile is called pombalinos after the Marquis of Pombal, who was responsible for the rebuilding efforts after the 1755 earthquake.

The tile below is a closeup of the tiles that cover the house you see in the photo below. 

The best way to see a vast collection of tiles and receive a valuable education is to visit both the Museum of Azulejos and the Monastery of Saint Vincent de Fora.

Above is just one of the 38 panels that make up part of the Monastery of Sao Vicente de Fora collection.  These panels are the fables of La Fontaine, created by master Policarpo de Oliveira Bernardes between 1740 and 1750.  Jean de La Fontaine was a French fabulist and one of the most widely read French poets of the 17th century.

 

In the Azulejo Museum I fell in love with the above tile.  It was by Rafael Bordalo Pinheiro (1846-1905).  Born in Lisbon, he is one of the most well know tile artists of his time.

 

In the Azueljo museum is a 75 foot long tile panoramic view of Lisbon prior to the 1755 earthquake.   This small section above, where you can see smoking chimneys was the neighborhood of Mocambo, where many of Lisbon’s potteries were located.  The district today is called Madragoa, a term that in Umbundo means small village, place of refuge.  This is the area where a significant part of the population was once freed slaves.

 

 

Walking down one of the narrow alleys of the Santa Cruz neighborhood I spotted this.