Day 16      8/23/2023

Portugal - Lisbon

Frank's Trip

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Finding a T-Shirt...

This is my final day in Lisbon. Portugal has exhausted me, but it has been a great place to visit. I may be most impressed with the great public transit. One can get just about anywhere in Lisbon pretty easily on the public transit system between Metro subway, Bus, Tram, Funicular and street level trains - I never did quite catch on to what they're called and they usually have routes and numbers like a bus. Between towns - again, easy and frequent transport between trains and then bus.

My primary mission this day was to find a great Portugal T-Shirt. Some countries have really good and easy to find T-Shirts; others, not so much. Portugal is in the latter category. I did finally find a good t-shirt - not great like Egypt but much better than the typical one in India.

Along the way, it was a slow paced and interesting day. I've been on a funicular before - but not quite like the one on this day. And I've been on the trams in Lisbon before - but not like the Funicular which is a tram. The cool part was that at the top is a great park for fantastic views of the city below.

Gloria Funicular / Elevador da Glória / Ascensor de Gloria

I don't really have any way to measure it, but this street appears to me to run at about a 25 degree angle. Typical roof pitch is said to be 4:12 - this seems to break down to an angle of about 18.4 degrees. So, I believe this street (and many others) are steeper than the typical roof. When walking up one, it is VERY steep and every step taken makes it even steeper :-)

The best-known and most popular of the three cable cars is the Elevador da Glória. At the top part of the Funicular, in Bairro Alto, there are some magnificent views over Lisbon from the San Pedro de Alcántara viewpoint. The Elevador da Glória was opened to the public on 24 October 1885.

Videos: Gloria Funicular...

The ride UP and the ride DOWN ...

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Miradouro de São Pedro de Alcântara
/ Jardim de São Pedro de Alcântara

A few steps from the endpoint (at the top) of the Gloria Funicular is this charming park and site to get a great overview of a large part of Lisbon.

Lisbon is a city built on many hills. As a result, it has several viewpoints (miradouro in Portuguese) with tremendous vistas over the capital. The viewpoint is located in a small urban park, the Jardim São Pedro de Alcântara (Jardim António Nobre).

Igreja de São Domingos / Church of Saint Dominic

Igreja de São Domingos - Church of St. Dominic is a Catholic church in Lisbon, Portugal. It is classified as a National Monument.

The church was dedicated in 1241 and was, at one time, the largest church in Lisbon. Prior to the establishment of the modern Portuguese republic in 1910, the church typically hosted Portuguese royal weddings. Formerly the home of the Inquisition: Jesuit missionary Gabriel Malagrida was famously executed at the church in 1761 after being accused of treason. In 1506, the church and the church square were the scenes of the Lisbon massacre when thousands of New Christians (previously converted Jews) were murdered by the Christian mob.

The church was damaged by the 1531 Lisbon earthquake and almost completely destroyed in the 1755 earthquake. Rebuilding began quickly but wasn't completed until 1807. In 1959 the church was devastated once more when a fire broke out in the building. The fire, which killed two firefighters, took more than six hours to extinguish and completely gutted the church, destroying many important paintings and statues. In 1994 the church reopened. The restoration left many signs of the fire in place.