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.

A very small section of a world map at the Monument of the Discoveries, showing all the territories conquered by Portugal

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.

Street art in Lisbon

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.

This stunning piece of art is by José Sobral de Almada Negreiros. It is in, what is now, the Four Seasons Hotel, which was built during the Estado Novo, as a meeting place for the nations of Portugal

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.

A block long row of Art Deco buildings not far from the Gulbenkian Museum

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.

The focal point of the museum is this fountain, with its spitting dolphin at the top, covered with hundreds of years of mineral salts, that have created this luscious piece of art.

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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You can climb to the roof of the building and on the way look into the aqueduct itself

April 25th Monument

25th of April Monument by João Cutileiro

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.

Photo from Pinterest

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.

Ginja is a sour cherry liquor that is cloyingly sweet. It is thought that its origins, like many “medicinal liquors” occurred sometime in the 17th century at the hands of Cistercian monks.  Walk the alleyways of Lisbon, and grandmothers invite you in to try it and buy it.

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

If you arrive by train, this is the ticket booth.  The town becomes magical with the azulejos, upon arrival.

The first building you encounter after embarking from the train is the Town Hall.  The fairytale continues.

May I begin with a complaint?  Sintra is one of the most discussed, lauded, and praised places outside of Lisbon. It is amazing, and worth a visit, and in fact, I would suggest a day and a half, not the day that most people allot, however, it is also suffering severely from over tourism.  My visit was unpleasant at best.  It felt like a day at Disneyland with lines to enter the different sites having a minimum of a twenty minute wait. Then the places were over run with tourists with unruly children.  For gods sake, one woman was changing her child’s diaper on a 1000 year old table.  I know how desperately economies need tourist dollars, but there is a point where tourism ruins why you visit.  Sintra is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site, another factor in the discussion.

I will also add that I wonder –  is part of this because Sintra is one of the wealthiest and most expensive municipalities in both Portugal and the Iberian Peninsula as a whole, and that Madonna bought a place here for what was reported to be $8,927,470?  Maybe people are hoping to espy the Material Girl?

I took well over 300 photos of the area, so bear with me, these will be few and random with an explanation as best I can.

I began in town at the Palacio National, not a very visited site.  I was in love with the ceilings.

In the Palacio Nacional It is not known when these were painted, but it is thought they date to the 14th century. The crowned swan was an emblem used by Henry IV of England.

This is the Magpies Chamber and is thought to date to the 15th century. There are 135 magpies, but the significance is unknown.

Just a small taste of a carved wood ceiling

This was originally the estate of the viscountess of Regaleira, a family of wealthy merchants from Porto. It was sold to Carvalho Moneiro in 1892 and with the help of Italian architect Luigi Manini he expanded the gardens. He also added some interesting touches of mysticism.

In 1987, the estate was sold to the Japanese Aoki Corporation and became a corporate entity. It was then acquired by the Sintra Town Council and is now part of the “Disneyland of Sintra”.

At Regaleira people wander aimlessly looking for the infamous wells. The wells never served as water sources. Instead, they were used for ceremonial purposes that included Tarot initiation rites. Remember I said, there was mysticism involved. The larger well, open to tourists,  is where you descend an 88 foot spiral staircase with several small landings. The spacing of these landings, combined with the number of steps in the stairs, are linked to Tarot mysticism. Other references may be to Freemasonry, Rosicrucianism or Knights Templar rituals.

Looking down on the stairwell of the well of Regaleira

Palacio de Pena Sintra Portugal – on the advice of a local I skipped this, and I am glad I did, if for no other reason, I ran out of time. And yes, I am aware that it is the number one loved spot by tourists, I am not a tourist.  This was taken from the Castle of the Moors.

One of my more treasured moments was the Monserrate Palace, simply because very few tourist go there.  It is jaw dropping amazing.  It sits upon a piece of land with gardens that go on forever, and a house whose artistry is beguiling. The design was influenced by Romanticism and Mudéjar Moorish Revival architecture with Neo-Gothic elements.

The interior hallway of Montserrat

According to the plaque next to this arch it is an Indian Arch acquired by Sir Francis Cook in the wake of the Sepoy Mutiny.  ” this uprising broke out on 10 May 1857 as a means of protest against the campaign of westernization engaged in by the British East India Company.  The British army ended up defeating the mutineers and, in response to the attempt at rebelling, Indian palaces were sacked and destroyed.  Much of the spoils therein obtained were brought to Europe.”

Well at least they admit it.

I ended my day at the top of the world and what they call the Castle of the Moors.

Here are some random shots from my day:

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Sintra is absolutely worth a visit, and as I said, more than one day if you are serious.  If you visit, hire a driver.  Not a guide, but a driver.  There are two bus routes served by city buses but they run about 30 minutes apart, so if your timing is off, you waste a lot of time sitting and waiting.  Every site has its own entry fee, so the day is not cheap, choose wisely, but please, despite my criticisms go, it is worth it.

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.

At the Monastery of São Vicente de Fora. An unbroken tiled pattern winds throughout the entire monastery, from the entranceway and across the gallery to the indoor hallways and atriums. A total of around 100,000 tiles were used, making it the world’s largest collection of Baroque tiles.

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;

The Chicken’s Wedding

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.

Pan or Silenus

I do not know the story behind this dog and his torch

In the cafe at the Museum of Azulejos

The Museum of Azulejo sits inside the Madre de Deus Convent, founded in 1509 by Queen D. Leonor. The elements of the church were breathtaking, and the murals religiously interesting.

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. 

Found in the Chiada section of Lisbon, this building dates from 1863, it’s completely covered in mostly yellow and orange tiles with images representing Earth, Water, Science, Agriculture, Commerce and Industry. At the top is a star with an eye in the center, symbolized the Creator of the Universe.

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.

Map of the North Pole, a Geometric Pentagon, and a Geometric Pyramid from the 18th century

At one time is was a fad to copy etchings. This Image was based on the engraving “Mars” from the series “Twelve Months” by Henri II Bonnart, Paris c. 1678

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