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After the city of Lisbon was hit by an outbreak of cholera in 1833, causing thousands of deaths,  it was urgent to create a large cemetery for both rich and poorer victims. It has the weird name of  Cemetery of ‘Pleasures’, called after the nearby neighborhood (Prazeres) with the same name. Many of its tombs are big mausoleums, some with the size of small chapels.

Once you enter the cemetery the sound of the city fades and the tranquility overwhelms you. Beautiful trees, a strange atmosphere and joyful singing of birds. You imagine yourself walking in a previous century, only disturbed by plane noise, rather loud, every 10 minutes. The cemetery is located close to the landing/take-off zone of Lisbon’s airport. As far as I know nobody here seems to complain

Most of the Prazeres mausoleums belong to rich, old or ‘important’ families, like f.i. the Palmela family. Many of the mausoleums are richly elaborated, have fine sculptures and decorations. There are also statues of the deceased. It’s like a ‘city in a city’ for the dead, with well-defined lanes (70! ) and funerary chapels that were built to look like little houses.

The unusual about a lot of these graves is that they have little “front doors” with glass windows through which you can see the caskets and remnants of the dead and their visitors. Most of the trees are a species cypress (Cupressus sempervirens), much used in Portuguese cemeteries.

The cemetery also provides great views over the Alcântara valley, the river Tagus and the 25 April Bridge (Ponte 25 de Abril).

Until 1985, the great Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa was burried here. Thereafter his mortal remains were transferred to the cloisters of the Mosteiro dos Jerónimos

An example of a ’front door’ with glass windows through which you can see the caskets.

The cemetery, one of the largest of the Portuguese capital, can be reached by taking Electrico 28, which is a traditional and charming Lisbon tram, to its last stop in Prazeres. Open every day of the week from 09:00 – 17:00 (May – September 09:00 – 18:00). Largo dos Prazeres, Praça São João Bosco  More about cemeteries in Portugal

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Sofa Joe – Jonathan de Pas, Italy (1932-1991)

This hugely important group of works, due to the creators represented and the quality and significance of the objects brought together, has a particular coherence and intrinsic unity stemming from the direct and complementary relation between the two areas (design and fashion).

Designers of this beautiful dress: the Portuguese duo Storytailors.

MUDE is a space for all 20th and 21st century design forms, from graphic to urban, taking in fashion and equipment; from mass production to the creation of the artist. A space to considering design, researching into its holdings, developing an editorial policy, a temporary programme and educational activity that provides different spaces for the sharing of ideas. It must also, however, be a space for experimentation and creation, showing the proposals of new creators, encouraging new research and creating dialogues with the visual arts and architecture, the cinema and dance, music, science.

The unique building has a long history. Local architects Joana Vilhena and Ricardo Carvalho have left the interior in the rough state they found it, with walls, columns, and ceilings stripped of finishes. More……. A wonderful idea! It’s located in the middle of Lisbon’s historic Pombaline center. Eight floors occupy in total a floor area of appr. 14.000 m2. The renovation is still in progress.

Aristocratic elegance: Christobal Balenciaga (Spain 1895-1972)

Pierre Poulin’s (France, 1927) long sofa Amphys which can be arranged in different positions

Paco Rabanne (Spain, 1934). Calf length boots, metallised leather (1965)

Also, there’s a lot of design showpieces, wonderful movie clips and music

Design and fashion were assembled in a complementary manner, with each piece chosen through a concept-based museum dialogue, and not according to personal tastes. Comprised of furniture and small everyday objects, both unique and mass-produced, the collection reflects 20th century’s major design trends and movements.

MUDE (MUseum and DEsign) which means ‘change’ in Portuguese), Rua Augusta 24 Lisbon. Opening hours: from Tuesday to Thursday and Sunday: 10:00 am-20:00 pm
Friday and Saturday: 10:00 am-22:00 pm. Closed on Monday. You can visit the museum for free.

Thanks to Graça Rodrigues, Head of Communication & Press

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The restaurant’s entrance and the beautiful patio of the Palácio da Independência  (Palace of Independence), located near Rossio Square on the north side of the Largo de São Domingos. The building’s foundation stone was laid in 1509 and some of Manueline details from this time can still be detected in the inner courtyard, for example the door decorations. The two conical kitchen chimneys are reminiscent of the royal palace at Sintra.

Paulo Saraiva de Reffóios (with sunglasses): “Recently I started (February 2009) this restaurant. I used to work as a hotel director for 20 years but besides I always had a real passion for Portuguese gastronomy and for many years I enjoyed cooking for friends”. “At the moment you are welcome to enjoy a (Portuguese) lunch here (June 2009), dining is possible on request from 12 persons”.

The other 2 gentlemen are José Cardoso (and daughter Filipa) and Henrique Santos, ‘Lucinda Tudo Bom’ wine producers. At the table a delicious bottle of Douro wine: Fraga Alta (High Crag) Douro Doc 2003. If you wish you can order online.

My friend Erika and Paulo Saraiva de Reffóios, the very friendly and always joking restaurant owner. Our choice for lunch: salada de rucola com requeijao (salad with cream cheese) € 8; salmão fumada com boulgour (smoked salmon with bulgur) € 12; agua (water) € 2,50; um copo do vinho branco (glass of white wine) € 2,50; bread and delicious salted butter € 3.

If you wish you can enjoy your lunch inside of this beautiful building.

The name Palácio da Independência (’Independence Palace’) recalls a curious event that occured in 1640: a conspiracy against the Spanish occupation. If you are in Lisbon you can visit the palace each Friday, at 15:00. More…….

The walls of this former palace are decorated with beautiful azulejos (Portuguese tiles).The azulejo is a form of Portuguese painted, tin-glazed, ceramic tilework. They have become a typical aspect of Portuguese culture. Azulejo comes from the Arabic word az-zulayj, meaning polished stone.

Wherever you go in Portugal, azulejos are to be found inside and outside cafes, churches, palaces, ordinary houses and even ceilings, train- or subway stations. Many azulejos chronicle major historical and cultural aspects of Portuguese history.

‘Chaminés do Palácio’, Largo de Sao Domingos 11. chaminesdopalacio@gmail.com

Tlm (0351) 919450754

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It was given its original name of Palácio de Almada in honor of its former owner, the Count of Almada. The name Palácio da Independência (’Independent Palace’) recalls a curious event that occured in 1640. Philip II of Spain had occupied Portugal in 1580, a year later he was recognized as King of Portugal.

Entrance restaurant ‘Chaminés do Palácio’ (’the chimneys of the Palace’).
The loss of some colonies and the intense pressure of taxes levied to finance the Spanish wars led about 60 years later to a conspiracy among several of the Portuguese nobility. On December 1st, 1640 there ensued a successful rebellion, followed by the restoration of Portugal’s independence.

About 40 conspirators prepared for the action under the leadership of the Duke of Bragança (or Braganza) in the grounds of this palace.

The Duke, from who’s grandmother the royal family descended, was crowned João IV, King of Portugal. From a neighboring monastery the nobles reached the palace garden from across part of the old 14th C. city wall and gathered there in a small, isolated pavillion. It has even been suggested that there was an underground path linking the garden with the Baixa along which people could pass unseen.

Beautiful azulejos (tiles) representing the story of the conspiracy

The building’s foundation stone was laid in 1509 and some of Manueline details from this time can still be detected in the inner courtyard, for example the door decorations. Two conical kitchen chimneys are reminiscent of the royal palace at Sintra.

The Sociedade Historica da Independência de Portugal has its seat in this Palace. This society has awarded itself the task of keeping alive the memory of the happenings of December 1st, 1640 and the general consciousness of Portugal’s national history.

Ana Maria Proserpio, Directora dos Serviços Culturais (Director of Portuguese Cultural Services). In Ana Maria’s hand the keys of the palace. If you are in Lisbon you can visit the palace each Friday, at 15:00.

Every year on December 1st official memorial events take place both in the Palácio da Independência and at the Praça dos Restauradores

Palácio da Independência
Largo de São Domingos, 11
1150-320 Lisboa

Phone: 21 324 14 70 Email: ship.geral@ship.pt

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In 1836, by order of Queen D. Maria II, Almeida Garrett (famous author and poet) was charged with creating a conservatoire for the dramatic arts. The site chosen for this colossal task was the finest in the city at Praça Dom Pedro IV, commemorates Portugal’s first liberal king. The square is usually simply referred to as Rossio (big square).

The theatre opened to the public on April 13 1846, the date of the anniversary of the queen it is named after, but the acoustics were poor and the theatre closed the very next day for improvements. It reopened several years later to notable success. In late November 1964, the theatre staged Shakespeare’ Macbeth. A strange superstition, or more appropiately a curse, hangs over theatres that perform this play: one week after the first show the whole building burned down except for its outer walls. It was reopened in 1978. Since then, countless plays, by the finest playwrights of the past and of today, have been performed and staged.

Today, Teatro D. Maria II is not merely a concert hall. Besides its majestic Garrett room, it also has a smaller room, while the great hall has been turned into a theatre/ studio, covering a whole world of activities that very often burst out from behind its venerable walls.

On the other side of the theatre you’ll find the unique Rossio train- and metro station (Estação do Rossio)

You can discover the theatre (or take the time to enjoy a good show). From Monday to Friday 10:00 am to 13:00/ 15:00 to 17:00 there’re guided tours, in several languages, to the backstage of the theatre. A journey that reveals the secrets and stories of Teatro Nacional D. Maria II. Price 6 euro.

Christmas 2008. Café Garrett, beside the theatre’s foyer, one of the most perfectly located cafés in Lisbon, facing the lively Rossio Square

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Avenida da República near Saldaña square. A must-do is to have breakfast or lunch in the wonderful old tea- and lunchroom Pastelaria Versailles (opened in 1922) which has it’s own bakery.

Praça Duque de Saldaña. Monument of the great liberal Marshal who gives the square its name. Designed by Thomaz Costa and Ventura Terra, unveiled in 1909. The base of the monument contains a bronze figure of victory. At Saldaña Square there’s the highly frequented cinema Monumental where many young Portuguese meet in the bar of the cinema, ‘Movies’ .

Famous restaurant Galeto, a classic spot. Avenida Da República, 14. Open from 07.30 am – 03.30 (!). Delicious food and quite cheap (dinner and snacks). Galeto is well known in Lisbon for its friendly and courteous service.

Market mercado de Arroios , fresh fish, flowers and fruit. Arroios is a very atmospheric working class neighborhood with great markets and very good prices in restaurants and shops.

Estefania: a nice and very quiet area, with lots of typical Portuguese small business ‘mom and pop’ and food shops.

Rua Ilha da Terceira, Estefania. To eat out, try the pastelerias (cheap small restaurants, great Portugese food). Not one tourist in sight…..Chiado, Baixia and Alfama are easily reached by public transport, and even at night a taxi isn’t more than 5 euros.

The bill? Grilled salmon 5,50 euro, soup 0,90. A glass of wine 0,75.

Luxury shopping center Saldanha, quite near Avenida da Liberdade, (Liberty Avenue). This broad boulevard is the Portuguese equivalent of the Champs Elysees in Paris with lots of luxury boutiques selling international brands. 

Marquis of Pombals’ statue , a despotic marquis….more…..The Rotunda, or, officially, Praça do Marqués de Pombal

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Walking from Praça do Comércio in the direction to Alfama, you will get to Rua dos Bacalhoeiros. The famous 28 tram (electrico) passes here on its way to the Santa Apolonia station.

This part of the street is really beautiful. The small restaurants with a terrace outside are popular; even in wintertime when the sun is shining you can enjoy a beer or have lunch outside.

My favorite terrace, just near ‘Casa dos Bicos’ is ‘Adega do Atum (tummy)’, a small restaurant with a few tables on the pavement at the front, close to the road near the Tagus river. The waiters are very friendly and not too agressive. They serve excellent traditional fish and meat meals and have the Portuguese Sagres beer on tap (imperial). Try ‘Salade de Atum’ (€ 7 ) for lunch!

Casa dos Bicos (House of the pointed stones). This Palace was built in the early 16th century, a notable part of Lisbon’s heritage and one of the few examples with traces of the 15th C. architecture. The residence was built by the Albuquerque family. From 1981 to 1982, Casa dos Bicos was the site of excavations, many archaelogical findings were unearthed (ceramic and glass pieces a.o.). The upper two floors were destroyed by the earthquake in 1755 and were only rebuilt in the 1980s. Worth a visit!

You will find various tourist shops in this street. Silva & Feijó, Rua dos Bacalhoeiros 117/118 on the other side of Casa dos Bicos, sells a.o. wines and typical Portuguese handicrafts.

Lunchtime in Lisbon. This part of the street is filled with lots of restaurants, from traditional Portuguese to Chinese. A Churrasqueira is a restaurant serving grilled meat or fish, many offering as much as you can eat: the waiters move around the restaurant with the skewers, slicing meat onto your plate. Frango de Churrasco with piri piri (a kind of salty roasted chicken spiced with hot red chili sauce) is very popular.

Restaurant Churrasqueira Santo António. Carlos Marcalo, Rua dos Bacalhoeiros 133, invites you to try their ‘espetada‘, a typical Portuguese dish made of large chunks of fish or beef rubbed in garlic and salt with vegetables such as onions and bell peppers. 

Luís Vieira.

Conserveira de Lisboa (The Lisbon Cannery), nr 34. Wonderful very old preserved-fish store with hundreds of colourful tins of the Portuguese favorite fish. This shop opened 80 years ago, nothing has changed.

Rua do do Comércio , “The shit of today will fertilize the morning…” building drawing, just around the corner of Rua dos Bacalhoeiros and Rua da Madalena.   More……

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The entrance. ‘Coupé Berlin, 18th Century. The 17th C. former city palace of the Count of Azurara stands on the Largo das Portas do Sol  in Alfama, in the heart of Lisbon’s historic centre, currently houses the Museum of Decorative Arts. The banker Ricardo do Espirito Santo Silva, whose family was one of the richest in Portugal, acquired the palace in 1947 and donated his collection to be the museum. Visitors to the museum are transported on a journey to an elegannt 18th Century Portuguese setting, where the artistic quality of the works, ranging from the 15th to the 18th Century, highlight the Founder’s taste and passion for Portuguese Decorative Arts.

The grand staircase leading to 1st floor has lovely tiles. An on-site collection of tiles (azulejos), several of which originallly pertained to the Palace, while others were integrated therein during the restorations works, in the end of the 1940s. 

The azulejo is a form of Portuguese painted, tin-glazed, ceramic tilework. They have become a typical aspect of Portuguese culture. Azulejo comes from the Arabic word az-zulayj, meaning polished stone. Wherever you go in Portugal, azulejos are to be found inside and outside cafes, churches, palaces, ordinary houses and even ceilings, train- or subway stations. Many azulejos chronicle major historical and cultural aspects of Portuguese history.

Beautiful ceiling and azulejos! Sorry, no more pictures (the guards……..). The museum has a remarkable collection of faience, local silver and ceramics, paintings, bedrooms, dining rooms and dressing rooms. Each room is more ornated than the next, in an aristocratic environment. Anyone interested in decorative arts in general and the Portuguese Empire in particular will find this collection fascinating.

Museum of Decorative Arts, Alfama
Largo das Portas do Sol, 2  more information and Museum shop  http://www.fress.pt/  nearby  Alfama historical centre

Closed: New year’s Day, Easter, May Day (May 1st) and Christmas (December 25). Cost Adult 4.00, free entrance for children aged 12 or under. Opening hours 10 a.m to 5 a.m. Museum shop: publications, replicas and other articles. Patio with cafetaria-restaurant. 

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The entrance to the Rua dos Sapateiros is spanned by the decorative arch Arco do Bandeiro. This bears the name of the wealthy sponsor Pires Bandeiro who commissioned it at the end of the 18th C.

Passing through the arched gateway on Rossio you see one of Lisbon’s remaining examples of Art Nouveau: this old movie house, the Animatógrafo , is a strip club nowadays. Lisbon’s earliest cinema hall opened in 1907, by brothers Ernesto and Joaquim Correia Cardoso. It has remained unaltered since then. The beautiful facade is adorned with a highly detailed Art Nouveau style, which consists of Azulejos tiled panels, which depict Edwardian styled females surrounded by fruits and flowers.

It was not easy to make a picture without snapping visitors going in and out, because this beautiful house is rather popular…..

Restaurant ‘Adega da Mo‘, a typical Portuguese restaurant . Almoçar (lunch): Picanha, (meat from Brazil) is generally considered to be the number one cut, even better than beef fillet. Picanha (pick-ahn-yeh) is much better than a steak, meltin-in-your mouth…. € 7.50, a glass of red wine (€ o.50)

Restaurant ‘O Arco‘, Rua dos Sapateiros 161. Every day a new buffet menu for only € 6. Traditional Portguese food including soup, chicken, meat, fish, vegetables and salad.

Joao Paulo Antunes in front of Restaurant ‘O Arco’.

Another beautiful example of Portuguese Art Nouveau in this street is Leitaria ‘A Camponeza’

Rua dos Sapateiros, February 2009.

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If you like visit one museum make it the Gulbenkian. It’s the collection of the Armenian oil billionaire who made Lisbon his home. It covers everything from Egyptian to 20th Century art

After visiting the Gulbenkian Museum a must-do is to go to the nearby and wonderful old tea and lunchroom Versailles (1922) at Avenida da República, which has it’s own bakery. The homemade cakes and pastries are delicious, like the Pasteis de natas. The decor is rich, with chandeliers, gilt mirrors, stained-glass windows, tall stucco ceilings, and black-and-white marble floors. It looks like it could be straight of Paris…Mostly elderly people and greats of the Lisbon cafe scene enjoy their bica (espresso) here.

When Pastelaria Versailles was inaugurated on November 25 1922, the objective was to turn into a symbol of the fashionable Avenidas Novas, an elegant and new neighborhood in Lisbon. Remaining a courageous resistant to the construction fury that replaced many of the beautiful small palaces and stylisch houses of the first halve of the 20th century by today's unattractive buildings at Avenida da República, where 'Versailles' is....

The Pastelaria also knew how to resist to the fast-food wave that assaulted many of the most well-known cafes and pastry shops in Lisbon, transforming them into uncharacteristic places where people can only grab a fast meal. The wide variety of snacks includes codfish balls and toasted ham-and-cheese sandwiches. They are also famous for their confectioneries served in a glass case.

Pastelaria Versailles, long known as the 'grande dame' of Lisbon' coffeehouses, was quite recently declared a part of the national heritage. It still serves the famous Mozambique black tea that was introduced in 1662. Lunch, served in a back room, is a full meal of such Portuguese specialties as codfish with almonds. Most visitors come here for tea or coffee, served with sandwiches and snacks. Desserts, including duchesses (whipped-cream cakes) are justifiably famous.

As an old-fashioned and formal touch, immaculately attired waiters serve customers from silver-plated tea services. In addition to coffee and tea, the house specialty is hot chocolate. It's open daily from 7:30am to 10:00pm. Metro: Saldanha.

Window dressing Pastelaria Versailles, Avenida da Republica 15a
Lisbon

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