Michael Powell's Blog, page 23

Saturday Shopping in Chiado

When Lisboans want to shop, they head to the neighborhood of Chiado, found between Baixa and Bairro Alto. This upscale “middle ground” is known for its historic shops, churches and theaters. Braced for madness, we explored it on a sunny Saturday, two weeks before Christmas.

For centuries, this area of Lisbon has been called “Chiado”, which means something like “Squeak”. We’ve read multiple explanations for the term. It’s because of the sounds made by the carts rumbling down the stone streets...

Lisbon’s Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga

Portugal’s premiere art museum is the MNAA, or Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga. With 65 rooms in its permanent collection, thousands of works of art spanning the length of Portuguese history, and ever-changing temporary exhibits, this is the kind of place for which you’ll want to have plenty of time and energy.

The day on which we had arrived in Lisbon was warm and sunny, so we naturally jumped to the conclusion that the weather here was always wonderful. Not quite. In fact, in December, Lisbo...

The Ascensor do Lavra and Jardim do Torel

The Jardim do Torel is set high on a hill in the neighborhood of Santo António, and the easiest way to reach it is with the Ascensor do Lavra. Once at the top, the garden and the surrounding neighborhood provide plenty of sights for an entertaining day out.

Of the three funiculars still active in Lisbon, the Ascensor do Lavra is the oldest, dating from 1884. And because of its location just north of the regular tourism circuit, it’s also the only one without a steady line of foreigners waiti...

The Museum of Water

Located within the old Barbadinhos Pumping Station, the Museu da Agua introduces visitors to the once-painful process of bringing drinking water to the people of Lisbon. The museum’s highlight is its engine room, where 19th-century steam-powered pumping machines have been preserved in magnificent condition.

Like most people, Jürgen and I take the availability of drinking water for granted. Turn on the tap, and there it is. We’re largely ignorant of the process by which this water arrives int...

The Tower of Belém

Erected in the early 16th century to as a bulwark against incoming threats from the Atlantic, the Tower of Belém is today a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and one of the city’s most famous and popular landmarks.

It often happens that the most well-known sights are also the ones we enjoy the least. For us, the experience of visiting a place is only partially correlated to its history, importance or beauty. If there are no crowds at a lesser-known museum, for example, we’re almost definitely goin...

The Museum of Decorative Arts

Set within a 17th-century palace across from the popular Miradouro das Portas do Sol, a viewpoint that looks over Alfama and the cruise ship docks, the Museu de Artes Decorativas (also called the Fundação Ricardo do Espírito Santo Silva, or FRISS) introduces visitors to the exquisite furniture and design of Lisbon during the Age of Exploration.

We showed up on a Sunday, around noon, when hundreds of tourists were cramming the Portas do Sol viewpoint, angling for shots of the nearby São Vicen...

The Feira da Ladra: The Thieves’ Market

Held on Tuesdays and Saturdays on the sloping hill behind the Monastery of São Vicente da Fora, the Thieves’ Market, or Feira da Ladra, has a history stretching back to the 13th century. Today, we assume that the sellers have cleaned up their act, but the market is still a great place for those looking to make a steal.

We visited the Feira da Ladra on a Saturday morning. The weather was brisk but beautiful, and the buzz at the market was like at a festival, with thousands of people milling a...

São Vicente da Fora

We were surprised to learn that the patron saint of our adopted hometown of Valencia, San Vicente Martir, is also the patron saint of Lisbon. Although he’d never visited Portugal in life, his mortal remains were brought here in 1173. We visited the ancient church and monastery named in his honor, set on a hill in Alfama.

We were only visiting São Vicente on a whim, after a surprise public holiday (Restoration of Independence Day) had forced us to cancel other plans. So, already tired from a...

A Concise History of Lisbon

As Western Europe’s oldest city, it almost goes without saying that Lisbon would have a fascinating history. This was the de facto capital of the European Age of Exploration, and has lived through both tremendous heights of wealth and power, and abysmal lows. Here’s a concise rundown of the most important events in they city’s story.

Iron Age Neandrathals and unidentified humans are the first to populate the area around the Tagus River Basin, but the Celts were the first permanent inhabita...

The Royal Palace and Gardens of Ajuda

After the earthquake of 1755, the Royal Palace was moved from Praça do Comércio to more stable ground. The neoclassical Palácio da Ajuda would be the occasional home of Portugal’s royalty until the end of the monarchy. We visited the palace, and also the neighboring botanic gardens.

Although he and his family escaped its wrath unscathed, King José I was traumatized by the earthquake which had destroyed his palace. Not only did he order his new quarters rebuilt in Belém, a town which had been...