The
charm of the Portuguese capital resides in its strong
links to the past; restored palaces, majestic churches
and an imposing hilltop castle reflect the city's
rich cultural heritage.
Lisbon's history is a ready mix of concrete fact
and legend. Both the Elder Pliny and Portuguese
poet Luis de Camões gave credence to the
story that the city was founded by Ulysses, but
in actual fact it was the Phoenicians who, twelve
hundred years before Christ, settled on the Tagus
Estuary because it offered a safe haven for their
galleys. They built a city that they called Alis
Ubbo (calm port) and under their control it prospered
for more than six centuries. The Greeks, then the
Romans, followed by the Barbarians and finally the
Moors, by turns won and lost this city of the Tagus,
whose name changed with each new master.
In 1147, Portugal's first king, Afonso Henriques,
helped by thousands of Flemish, Norman, German and
English crusaders on their way to the Holy Land,
finally expelled the Moors who had been in residence
since 714. Lisbon was finally pronounced the capital
in 1256.
Portugal prospered during the 15th and 16th centuries
as a succession of explorers penetrated the four
corners of the globe. Their discoveries brought
great wealth to Lisbon in the form of gold, diamonds,
silks and spices.
In 1908, the assassination of King Carlos I in Lisbon's
main square, Praça do Comércio, triggered
the end of the country's 767-year-old monarchy,
forcing Manuel II to flee to Britain two years later.
