It was such a beautiful morning to wake up to and was able to step out onto the deck with the sun coming across the pool and gardens and into my room. I read there for a bit and just enjoyed the quiet beauty of the morning. After packing up and a bite to eat I was met by my guide. She was very knowledgeable and as my parents can tell you, I had a million questions for the guide. I have felt like I am missing the whole history behind Portugal and haven't been able to get a full feeling for the city, it's history and how to navigate it. She earned her money today as I was full of questions and ended the day feeling like I finally got to see the city. The old part where we spent our time really isn't that large and it is a relatively small country with only 10,000,000 in the whole country. For comparison, NYC has over 8 million people and Lisbon has around 600,000.
The history as I grasped it from out guide goes like this- Celts from the north were here a few centuries before Christ, then the Romans were here 200 BC (built great roads and fortress city on the hill) and then the Barbarians/ Germanic Tribes aka Visigoths (had many gods) took over with the fall of the Roman Empire. The Visigoths converted to Christianity later on. Muslim Moors invaded from northern Africa (still a lot of Moorish influence) and conquered for a few hundred years until the Visigoths completed their Reconquest in the 13th century. The Kingdom of Portugal was then created and has since kept it's same borders. Portugal was then run by a Monarchy with huge influence by the Catholic Church... which can be seen today with literally hundreds of Catholic churches. Churches began to be scattered all over Lisbon starting with the Santa Maria Cathedral and and Jeronimo Monastery which I visited yesterday, constructed around 500 years ago. Santa Maria Cathedral I saw today and it was still decorated with flowers from it's weekend of weddings. They just celebrated St. Jerome's Day on Friday, who is the patron saint of marriage, and apparently the city sponsors weddings on this national holiday and over 100 weddings were performed at this Cathedral over the weekend. It still had all the flowers in the chapel and I heard the bride and grooms just stack up outside the door and one wedding after the next are performed. Next to the Cathedral was the church of Saint Anthony, which was built over the spot where he was born. This again is a significant church in Lisbon since he along with St. Vincent are the two patron Saints of Lisbon.
In the 15th and early 16th century Portugal had some of it's greatest years during the Age of Discovery as they discovered routes to the east and India. Inside Jeronimo Monastery I saw the tomb of Vasco da Gamo who discovered this route to India. They also made discoveries and claims in Africa and South America/Brazil. The churches that I have seen, the most gilded and ornate represent the time when gold was discovered and imported into Portugal and a time of great wealth for Portugal, like the former convent I visited yesterday that had a richly gilded altar.
Times for Portugal became a rough during the time of the great earthquake and tsunami which occurred in the 1700s and wiped out most of Lisbon with fires as well. Then in the early 1800s Brazil was granted it's independence, which also meant that Portugal no longer had the resources pouring in from Brazil. Things have been a challenge since then.
There was a revolution in the early 20th century and a republican constitution was approved in 1911 and written and ironically implemented by a dictator that would rule for around 40 years. They have what anyone you ask in Portugal would say a corrupt government for a very long time. There were some good monarchs back in the day and many of them spent a huge amount of funds on Catholic churches and monasteries. The city and surrounding areas are literally covered in churches. The country it seems blamed the Catholic influences for some of their financial duress and all convents and monasteries were shut down during a time in the 1700s or 1800s and used for government buildings, schools, ... Catholics were not allowed to be cloistered. I have visited more old convents and monasteries here than I have anywhere else. The last monarch Charles lived in the palace I visited today, Pena Palace. He and his son were both shot which ended the era of Monarchs and ushered in the republic and possibly more corruption.
Today Lisbon has some lovely spots, the most beautiful I think are the cityscapes, which we visited a few more today including those from St. George Castle, where rulers lived for centuries. I also think the city's triumphant arch, Rua Augusta Arch, is just grand and lovely. This arch took over 100 years to build and ultimately was finished by the people of Portugal in the late 1800s when the government couldn't afford to complete it. Through this welcoming arch all those that came to Lisbon would enter by boat until the mid 20th century and walk through this gate into the city. It is the highlight of the city for me with the large statue of King Joseph in the middle of the riverside/seaside square. We walked the city center streets and grabbed a bite to eat in an old Moroccan style mansion's courtyard off there. Leaving town we drove along Portugal's tree lined high-end shopping street "Portugal's Champs Elysees."
30 km from Lisbon is the mountainous village of Sintra, summer retreat of the monarchs and wealthy upper class for the past few centuries. Beautiful lush mountains dotted with old palaces and fortress walls. We stopped in the small city center of Sintra by one of the old palaces which has great Manueline style windows. We explored the streets and then went up to the Pena Palace on the top of the mountains of this area. This had been originally built in the 1500s as a convent and then restored and added onto by King Ferdinand II and used for his summer home with his 10+ children. It is in a Romantic Style with many styles represented but mostly fantasy like. Loved the Triton Arch over one of the entrances and the pointed stones and stone balls which make up the facade the castle drawbridge gate. I loved the painted yellow and red walls and the beautiful colored tiles on the inside. The whole structure was so contemporary in design and had so many textures and colors, I just loved it. The monarchy resided here until they were ousted in 1910.
We finished the day with a stop at the most western point of continental Europe. There we stopped and took some photos which seemed reminiscent of the wind and exposure of the Cape of Good Hope we visited when we started our trip in South Africa.
I made it to my new hotel in Cascais, Villa Italia, and just spent time relaxing and writing in my blog. I apologize for how long these are, but they are really so I don't forget anything. Which makes me want to note that I did do some shopping today outside St. Jorge's Castle and purchased some red and white tiles which just captivated me. Love ceramics and loved these simple patterns and rich colors. I also purchased a CD from a group of singers outside the castle which were jamming with an accordion and guitars and random homemade instruments. It sounded a bit like what I would hear on the streets of New Orleans. I also was able to purchase a Fado CD, which I have become so fond of. And as a matter of fact, there was a CD of one of the male Fado singers I heard last night. He sounded incredible but wasn't aware that he was well known in the area. Very interesting day.
The history as I grasped it from out guide goes like this- Celts from the north were here a few centuries before Christ, then the Romans were here 200 BC (built great roads and fortress city on the hill) and then the Barbarians/ Germanic Tribes aka Visigoths (had many gods) took over with the fall of the Roman Empire. The Visigoths converted to Christianity later on. Muslim Moors invaded from northern Africa (still a lot of Moorish influence) and conquered for a few hundred years until the Visigoths completed their Reconquest in the 13th century. The Kingdom of Portugal was then created and has since kept it's same borders. Portugal was then run by a Monarchy with huge influence by the Catholic Church... which can be seen today with literally hundreds of Catholic churches. Churches began to be scattered all over Lisbon starting with the Santa Maria Cathedral and and Jeronimo Monastery which I visited yesterday, constructed around 500 years ago. Santa Maria Cathedral I saw today and it was still decorated with flowers from it's weekend of weddings. They just celebrated St. Jerome's Day on Friday, who is the patron saint of marriage, and apparently the city sponsors weddings on this national holiday and over 100 weddings were performed at this Cathedral over the weekend. It still had all the flowers in the chapel and I heard the bride and grooms just stack up outside the door and one wedding after the next are performed. Next to the Cathedral was the church of Saint Anthony, which was built over the spot where he was born. This again is a significant church in Lisbon since he along with St. Vincent are the two patron Saints of Lisbon.
In the 15th and early 16th century Portugal had some of it's greatest years during the Age of Discovery as they discovered routes to the east and India. Inside Jeronimo Monastery I saw the tomb of Vasco da Gamo who discovered this route to India. They also made discoveries and claims in Africa and South America/Brazil. The churches that I have seen, the most gilded and ornate represent the time when gold was discovered and imported into Portugal and a time of great wealth for Portugal, like the former convent I visited yesterday that had a richly gilded altar.
Times for Portugal became a rough during the time of the great earthquake and tsunami which occurred in the 1700s and wiped out most of Lisbon with fires as well. Then in the early 1800s Brazil was granted it's independence, which also meant that Portugal no longer had the resources pouring in from Brazil. Things have been a challenge since then.
There was a revolution in the early 20th century and a republican constitution was approved in 1911 and written and ironically implemented by a dictator that would rule for around 40 years. They have what anyone you ask in Portugal would say a corrupt government for a very long time. There were some good monarchs back in the day and many of them spent a huge amount of funds on Catholic churches and monasteries. The city and surrounding areas are literally covered in churches. The country it seems blamed the Catholic influences for some of their financial duress and all convents and monasteries were shut down during a time in the 1700s or 1800s and used for government buildings, schools, ... Catholics were not allowed to be cloistered. I have visited more old convents and monasteries here than I have anywhere else. The last monarch Charles lived in the palace I visited today, Pena Palace. He and his son were both shot which ended the era of Monarchs and ushered in the republic and possibly more corruption.
Today Lisbon has some lovely spots, the most beautiful I think are the cityscapes, which we visited a few more today including those from St. George Castle, where rulers lived for centuries. I also think the city's triumphant arch, Rua Augusta Arch, is just grand and lovely. This arch took over 100 years to build and ultimately was finished by the people of Portugal in the late 1800s when the government couldn't afford to complete it. Through this welcoming arch all those that came to Lisbon would enter by boat until the mid 20th century and walk through this gate into the city. It is the highlight of the city for me with the large statue of King Joseph in the middle of the riverside/seaside square. We walked the city center streets and grabbed a bite to eat in an old Moroccan style mansion's courtyard off there. Leaving town we drove along Portugal's tree lined high-end shopping street "Portugal's Champs Elysees."
30 km from Lisbon is the mountainous village of Sintra, summer retreat of the monarchs and wealthy upper class for the past few centuries. Beautiful lush mountains dotted with old palaces and fortress walls. We stopped in the small city center of Sintra by one of the old palaces which has great Manueline style windows. We explored the streets and then went up to the Pena Palace on the top of the mountains of this area. This had been originally built in the 1500s as a convent and then restored and added onto by King Ferdinand II and used for his summer home with his 10+ children. It is in a Romantic Style with many styles represented but mostly fantasy like. Loved the Triton Arch over one of the entrances and the pointed stones and stone balls which make up the facade the castle drawbridge gate. I loved the painted yellow and red walls and the beautiful colored tiles on the inside. The whole structure was so contemporary in design and had so many textures and colors, I just loved it. The monarchy resided here until they were ousted in 1910.
We finished the day with a stop at the most western point of continental Europe. There we stopped and took some photos which seemed reminiscent of the wind and exposure of the Cape of Good Hope we visited when we started our trip in South Africa.
I made it to my new hotel in Cascais, Villa Italia, and just spent time relaxing and writing in my blog. I apologize for how long these are, but they are really so I don't forget anything. Which makes me want to note that I did do some shopping today outside St. Jorge's Castle and purchased some red and white tiles which just captivated me. Love ceramics and loved these simple patterns and rich colors. I also purchased a CD from a group of singers outside the castle which were jamming with an accordion and guitars and random homemade instruments. It sounded a bit like what I would hear on the streets of New Orleans. I also was able to purchase a Fado CD, which I have become so fond of. And as a matter of fact, there was a CD of one of the male Fado singers I heard last night. He sounded incredible but wasn't aware that he was well known in the area. Very interesting day.
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