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It was taken by the Romans in the year 200 of our era, and its real development dates from then. The Saracens took it in the eighth century and during a long period it was many times attacked, besieged and held temporarily by one side or the other. In 1147, at last, the first Portuguese king took it definitely from the Moors. Its definite development dates from then, or, more strictly, from the reign of Afonso III, who made it the court and capital of the kingdom. That development reached its highest point in the sixteenth century, when the discovery by Gama of the sea-way to India raised Lisbon to the position of one of the richest and busiest cities in the world. Built dose to the mouth of the Tagus, in a vast amphitheatre primarily consisting of seven hills, its mean altitude is 150 feet, its area about 21,000 acres and its perimeter 27 miles. The present population of the city itself is reckoned at 487,000. It has a privileged situation in the extreme West of the continent of Europe and its climate is traditionally acknowledged to be one of the finest in the world: the mean temperatures are 57° F. in spring, 70°.7 in summer 62° in autumn and 50° in winter. Owing to its splendid harbor and its geographical position it has been called the Wharf of Europe, and such it should rightly, be for all sailings to Africa and America, while it is a magnificent port of call for vessels going from Northern Europe to India, Australia and the Far East. The ample bay which the Tagus forms right in front of the city is exceptional in point of safety and refuge, and the harbor, the line of which is greater than even that of Naples, satisfies all modern requirements and is so large that it can contain all the joint fleets of the world. In the beauty of its disposition, as seen from the great river, Lisbon has admittedly no parallel except Constantinople. As it was once the victim of repeated earthquakes, the last of which, in 1755, left it in ruins and destroyed most of the oldest buildings, Lisbon cannot be referred to as monumentality remarkable. It contains, nevertheless, many things worthy of being seen, as we shall show in detail in subsequent issues relating to monuments, museums, etc. But it is in natural beauty that its marvelous charm lies – the natural beauty itself, the position of the city on its several hills, the many-colored houses far scattered over them, the astonishing diversity of panoramas to be seen from its several heights and terraces, the green and sunny landscape in which it is set and the climate, soft and incomparably luminous, in which it is perpetually bathed, and the majestic river, from whose Northern bank it rises, completes the magic of the scene. It is also because Lisbon has not yet attained that leveling and decharacterizing degree of material civilization which destroys the personality of most other cities that it retains that special charm which attaches to a living past, in all its unexpectedness and color. This is true not only of its strange old streets, but also of its general life and people.
This does not mean that Lisbon is merely a picturesque survival. It is
really a living city, with the social and commercial life which
naturally pertains to a capital. Its material development, without
marring its traditional beauty, has recently been very intense. There is
no lack of the amenities and
conveniences which modern life requires. And, apart from its general and
direct charm and picturesqueness, there are many things worth looking at
severally and several museums and galleries well worth visiting. It is
all this that has built up the fame that Lisbon now enjoys – there was a
time when it was generally overlooked – of being one of the cities of
Europe which it is easiest and most pleasant to visit. |
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