Baixa & Chiado

The Baixa (Lower Town) is the geometric heart of Lisbon — and an architectural wonder of the Enlightenment. After the devastating earthquake of 1755, which completely destroyed the medieval old town, the Marquês de Pombal had the district rebuilt in a rational grid pattern. The wide, straight streets with their elegant facades were revolutionary at the time: earthquake-proof wooden frame constructions (the "gaiola pombalina"), uniform facades, a well-thought-out sewage system.

The center is the Praça do Comércio (Terreiro do Paço), one of Europe's grandest squares. Framed on three sides by yellow arcades, it opens on the fourth side to the Tejo. Here, the trading ships once docked, here the kings resided, and here King Carlos I was assassinated in 1908 — the assassination that initiated the downfall of the monarchy. Today, the square is a popular meeting place with the Lisboa Story Centre (entrance 7€), which tells the city's history multimedia, and numerous restaurants under the arcades.

From Baixa, the Rua Augusta — Lisbon's most elegant pedestrian zone — leads under the triumphal Arco da Rua Augusta (ascent to the viewing platform: 3€, worth it). At the other end of Baixa lies the Rossio (Praça Dom Pedro IV), the bustling center since the Middle Ages, with its wave-patterned cobblestone pavements, the National Theatre, and the legendary cafés — foremost the Café A Brasileira in the nearby Chiado, where a bronze statue of the poet Fernando Pessoa sits at a table.

The Chiado, the elegant district above Baixa, is Lisbon's intellectual and cultural center. Here Pessoa wrote his poems, here the bourgeoisie shopped in traditional stores, and here a devastating fire in 1988 ravaged the district. The reconstruction by star architect Álvaro Siza Vieira has breathed new life into Chiado: Today, bookstores (the beautiful Livraria Bertrand, the oldest still active bookstore in the world since 1732), design shops, theaters, and elegant cafés line up.

Between Baixa and Chiado stands Lisbon's most iconic elevator: the Elevador de Santa Justa (1902, designed by Raoul Mesnier du Ponsard, a student of Gustave Eiffel). The neo-Gothic iron elevator overcomes 32 meters in height and offers a spectacular panoramic view from the upper platform. The elevator costs 5.30€ for a round trip — or 1.65€ with the Viva Viagem card. The queues are legendary; a secret tip is the free access to the upper platform via Rua do Carmo.