Lisbon

INTRODUCTION

A nation of explorers that has absorbed habits and traditions from such early civilizations and froéhe regions that it discovered throughout the world during the Portuguese empire.

Lisbon is the capital and largest city of Portugal. It is the seat of the district of Lisbon and capital of Lisboa e Vale do Tejo region. Lisbon has a population of 564,657 and its metropolitan area has a population of 2,665,000.

Geography and climate

Lisbon is situated at 38°43' north, 9°8' west, making it the westernmost capital in mainland Europe. It is located in the west of the country, on the Atlantic Ocean coast at the point where the river Tagus flows into the Atlantic Ocean. The city occupies an area of 84.6 km². It is important to say that, unlike most major cities, the city boundaries are narrowly defined around the historical city perimeter. This gave rise to the existence of several administratively defined cities around Lisbon, such as Loures, Amadora and Oeiras, which in fact are part of the metropolitan perimeter of Lisbon.

The historic centre of Lisbon is built on seven hills, making some of the city's streets too steep for motor vehicles; the city is served by three funicular services and one elevator. The western side of the city is mainly occupied by the Monsanto Natural Park, one of the largest urban parks in Europe with an area close to 10 square kilometers (almost 4 square miles).

Lisbon is one of the warmest European capitals. Spring and Summer months are usually sunny and maximuéemperatures close to or above 30C°during July and August, with low between 15 and 20C°. Autumn and Winter are typically rainy and windy, yet sunny days are not rare either, the temperatures rarely fall below 5C°, usually staying at an average of 10C°. Average sunny hours per year are 3300 h/y, and 100 days with rain per year.

History

During the Neolithic the region was inhabited by the same peoples that lived in other regions of Atlantic Europe, the Iberians. They built religious monuments called megaliths. Dolmens and Menhirs still found in the countryside around the city. The Celts invaded after first millennium BC and they intermarried with the Iberians, giving birth to the Celtic-speaking local tribes such as the Conii and Cempsi.

According to an Ancient Greek myth, the hero Ulysses founded the city after he left Troy and departed to the Atlantic to escape the Greek coalition.

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The Suburbs

Like most big cities, Lisbon is surrounded by smaller towns/cities which depend on Lisbon for their economic and social life. It is estimated that close to one million people enter Lisbon every day froéhe outskirts. Among the most interesting neighbouring towns are Cascais, Estoril and Sintra, including the westernmost point in Continental Europe, the Cabo da Roca, as well as beautiful palaces, landscapes and cultural life.

Culture

The heart of the city is the Baixa or downtown, this area of the city is being considered for UNESCO World Heritage Site status. The Baixa is organized in a grid-system and a network of squares built after the 1755 Lisbon earthquake, which scraped a big part of medieval town. The Castle of São Jorge and the Santa Maria Maior Cathedral are located on one of the seven hills of Lisbon, to the east of the Baixa. The oldest district of the city is Alfama, close to the Tagus, which has made it relatively unscathed through the various earthquakes. Other monuments include:

The Castle of São Jorge, atop the tallest hill of the central city, Praça do Comércio (Commerce Square), Rossio Square, Restauradores Square, Elevador de Santa Justa, an elevator (lift) in Gothic revival style, built around 1900 to connect the Baixa and Bairro Alto. to Jerónimos Monastery in Belém, The city of Lisbon is rich in architecture; Romanesque, Gothic, Manueline, Baroque, Traditional Portuguese, Modern and Post-Modern constructions can be found all over the city. The city is also crossed by great boulevards and monuments along these main thoroughfares, particularly in the upper districts; notable among these are the Avenida da Liberdade, Avenida Fontes Pereira de Mello, Avenida Almirante Reis and Avenida da República.

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