In the morning, the first thing I visited was the Almada neighborhood, to take photos of the Lisbon bridge and see a panoramic view of the city since my hostel was very close.

The cost of hostels and hotels is much cheaper on the other side of the river and if you want to visit the towns to the south of Lisbon it is worth it. In addition, the beaches in this area and nightlife are better when my hostel is in Caparica.
Almada is an old industrial neighborhood that has been modernized in recent decades. It offers the view of a small Portuguese fishing village in the same capital but on the other side of the Lisbon bridge.
The main reason to visit the neighborhood is to get a better view of Christ the King of Lisbon. This Christ was based on the one in Rio de Janeiro but it is not that big. The building that serves as the plant measures 75 meters and the Christ 28 meters. You can also see from another angle the 25 de Abril bridge, a suspension bridge that connects the two parts of Lisbon.



There are several things to do, such as visiting the Fernando II de Gloria frigate, the last to be launched by the Portuguese navy.

This ship would function as a museum for educational purposes but it would burn down in 1963. It would be abandoned for 30 years until it was restored and today it is one of the tourist centers in the area. There is also a naval museum in Almada that focuses more than on the navy on fishing and the utensils and tools linked to this industry.
Other points of interest are some of the churches in the area such as Santiago, in the first image, or Nuestra Señora de la Asunción. There is also the Capuchin convent , a 16th-century Franciscan convent in a wooded area for walking.

To visit in this neighborhood we have La Casa de la Cerca, second and third image, which has a museum inside, and some of its streets.

The main street of the neighborhood is rua capitao leitao, in the image, a commercial and tourist street whose emblematic building is the chamber of commerce. This building was undergoing restoration when I was there, especially the clock tower.

Then I headed for Lisbon parking very close to the bridge since just east and the road limit the pollution-free zone of the city between east and west. Primarily visit the west of the city, with the most important monuments to the west but the historic center and most things to see to the east.
In the west, the first thing you would see would be the chapel of Saint Amaro very close to where you parked the car.
The chapel, from the mid-16th century, is made up of a circular nave and is attached to the main chapel, which is small. Both are on the same floor. The nave is surrounded in its entire perimeter by a Galilee, in which three large gates open. The interior walls of the atrium are entirely covered with beautiful polychrome tiles from the end of the 16th century, Mannerist, with various decorative elements that refer to the miracles of the saint.



Following the street next to the river, you would see different palatial houses from the 19th century, such as the Palace of the Counts of Ribeira, the Burnay Palace, the Higher Naval War Institute or an uninhabited palace like the third in the image , arriving at the end at the palace of the President of the Republic, the national palace of Bélem which cannot be visited, but the President's museum is.



In front of the Palace of the Republic is the monument of the statue of Alfonso de Albuquerque, in the garden that bears his name, which is a meeting place for many guides who begin to teach the city from this point. Next door is the National Car Museum, an ideal place if you are a fan of automobiles and car history. This area is full of museums and palaces since it is in the most visited area of Lisbon.

Nearby is the most famous and most visited monument in all of Portugal, the Jerónimos Monastery whose church is, from my point of view, the most beautiful in Portugal. In importance, it would also be above the Tomar monastery, being large and occupying somewhat less than its monastery. This monastery has two large cloisters whose entrance fee, 10 euros, seems excessive to me since the visit to the church is free. The church has large dimensions, the path to the main altarpiece being very long. In addition, the reduced entrance is difficult to obtain since teachers or students ask them for a certified sheet that they come to Lisbon for studies. You can also visit the archaeological museum and the Navy museum that are located inside what was the monastery.



Designed in the Manueline style by architect Juan de Castillo, it was commissioned by King Manuel I of Portugal to commemorate Vasco de Gama's fortunate return from India. It was founded in 1501 on the enclave of the Ermida do Restelo in what was the Restelo beach, a hermitage founded by Enrique the Navigator, and in which Vasco de Gama and his men spent the night in prayer before leaving for India. The first construction phase of the new church began in 1514 and it was extended and modified until the 20th century. It is one of the longest monasteries in the world with almost 300 meters and in it is the mausoleum in which the most important people of the time in which it was built, the 16th century, the royal family and their descendants are buried.





Having one day to make the most of Lisbon, I would not visit these museums and went directly to see the Belem Tower by the sea. Also the monument to the fallen in combat.



Then I would go north to the palace of Aduja. The entrance is not expensive being €5 and the reduced €2.5. This palace has many important rooms such as the dining room where the kings of the XIX century have held some celebrations and the throne room. This palace was ordered to be built in the last years of the monarchy and it is scheduled to finish restoring it in 2030. When I went, it is true that there were objects that were moving but almost all the rooms were complete. Both for the number of rooms and for the quality and details, the interior is much more valuable than any other palace in Portugal, including those in Sintra.



The most important rooms are the Royal Room shown in the following image. With the thrones of kings.



And the Great Dining Room, where the biggest parties of the Portuguese nobility and monarchy would take place. As seen in the image, it has nothing to envy to other great European royal palaces such as the Royal Palace in Madrid or the Palace of Versailles in Paris. After the visit, I would go to eat at a restaurant near the city bridge and then take a bus to the old town.



I would see some churches from the town but from the outside, like the church of San Antonio in the image, San Nicolas, Santiago, Santa Lucía and others . Almost all of them are in the Renaissance style from the 16th century onwards.

The religious building with the most history and the most worthwhile, together with the Jerónimos Monastery and the Cathedral, is the San Vicente de Fora Monastery, where the Bragança pantheon is located, the last kings of Portugal before the republic, from the 17th century. Due to the restoration that was done in the 17th century, it has an interesting mix of styles from the Romanesque, through the most modern Renaissance, Mannerist and Baroque. Another religious building of consideration is the Basilica of the Star from the end of the 18th century and in the Baroque style.

Then he would visit the cathedral, La Sé de Lisboa. Since construction began in 1147, the building has been modified several times and has survived several earthquakes. Currently it is the result of a mixture of different architectural styles. The first building was built between 1247 and Don Juan's grandmother, in the first decades of the 13th century in the late Romanesque style. At that time, the relics of San Vicente de Huesca (patron saint of Lisbon) were brought to the cathedral from the south of the country. At the end of the 13th century, King Dionysius I of Portugal built a Gothic convent and his successor, Alfonso IV, turned the main chapel into a royal pantheon for himself and his family. In 1498, Queen Eleanor founded the Misericórdia de Lisboa in one of the chapels of the convent of the cathedral. La Misericórdia is a Catholic charitable institution that later spread to other cities and was very important in Portugal and its colonies. Roman remains have been found so that originally there could have been a Roman temple dedicated to some deity.



Then he would go to the castle of San Jorge, which despite costing €10, because he is a teacher, he would enter without paying. This castle and many of the monuments of the capital are not worth the price of the entrance, but because it is the capital and is more touristy than other places, it has those prices. The castle of San Jorge is very similar to that of Sesimbra with the difference that the latter is free to enter. The one in Palmela is prettier and it is also free to enter, castles that I would visit the day after seeing Lisbon.



The views from the castle are great for taking pictures from different angles and showing the entire city.





After walking through its streets, I would take a series of photographs that show the activity of a city that does not stop, mainly due to tourism since the Portuguese are not as nocturnal as the Spanish.



Then I would go down to Rua Augusta and its arch and Comercio Square, the most famous square in all of Portugal. We access the square passing under the imposing Triumphal Arch of the commercial Via Augusta; In it we can see some sculptures, the work of Vitor Bastos, of notable Portuguese, such as Vasco de Gama, the Marqués de Pombal or Nuno Alvares Pereira. At the top, allegories of Glory, Genius and Valor flank an inscription that reads:
VIRTVTIBVS MAIORVM VT SIT OMNIBVS DOCVMENTO

May the virtues of the greatest be a teaching for all
Since its reconstruction, the square has witnessed very relevant historical events, such as the attack against King Carlos and his son Luis Felipe at the beginning of the 20th century or the military uprising of 1974, during the Carnation Revolution that overthrew the Salazar regime. .
In addition, it is in the Plaza del Comercio where Lisbon residents and tourists meet every New Year's Eve in Lisbon to welcome the new year between fireworks and ginjinha shots, usually enlivened by concerts and shows.





Another of Lisbon's symbolic squares is Plaza de Luis Camões, where the Lisbon City Hall is located, in the central image. On the right, the arch of the Plaza del Comercio and on the left, Rua Augusta.




In addition, the city has a lot to offer, apart from the large number of monuments, there is a great gastronomic offer where cod stands out. Fish is the star dish of the city and also of southern Portugal. With all this, I would return to the hotel, having only stayed to see the National Pantheon of Portugal and the Basilica of the Star.

Day 4, towns south of Lisbon and Setubal (CLICK to continue)

December 5, 2021