Nov 3-4 Lisbon, Portugal

We arrived in Lisbon (Lisboa in Portuguese) on Nov 3.  On the way we went under this aqueduct (first image from Portugaldailyview.com). I thought it was incredible that a Roman aqueduct could have withstood the earthquake of 1755 but it turns out that this was built by the Portuguese (begun under John V) earlier in the 18th century (the pointed arch should have given away the fact that it was not Roman but I didn't notice). It is amazing though that it withstood the earthquake. The aqueduct hasn't been used for water supply since the 1960s (pipes replaced it).

On Nov 4 we had a walking tour. I didn't take pictures as it was the sabbath. We walked down and then up the Avenue of Liberty (Avenida da Liberdade).   This is about 300' wide and has 4 traffic streets (totaling 10 lanes) divided by pedestrian paving and park (second image from slideshare.net/michaelasanda). 

One of the interesting statues along the Avenue is the monument to the fallen of World War I (the Grande Guerra or in English the 'great war'). The third image from pinterest.fr. Portugal was neutral in this war but they were allied with England by treaty and by commercial and colonial interests. Portugal actually lost over 10,000 soldiers in the war, most of them in the Battles of Lys in northern France in April 1918. Portugal also lost sailors to German U boats and lost soldiers in Africa. Finally, Portugal was devastated by the Spanish Flu in 1918-1919. Over 100,000 Portuguese (military and civilians) died in this pandemic. In comparison, in WWI the U.S. had about 50,000 killed in combat or as a result of combat and about 500,000 died of the Spanish Flu (including my mother's mother).

Another famous statue at the end of the Avenue is that of the Marques de Pombal (fourth image from lisbon-portugal-guide.com). The statue was erected in the early 20th century. The Marques whose name was Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo, was the equivalent of the Prime Minister (Secretary of Interior Affairs would be another way of describing his duties) under Joseph I from 1750 to 1777 and provided firm leadership following the earthquake of 1755. He also effectively weakened the Inquisition during his time in office. 

Below the Avenue there is a beautiful plaza Rossio Square, a.k.a., Pedro IV Square, a.k.a., Praca dom Pedro IV.  This is one of the most visited spots in Lisbon. The statue of Pedro IV was erected in 1876 as the square was being paved with the wavy mosaic that still exists today. The fifth image is from lisbon-portugal-guide.com.

Finally, we saw the memorial to the victims of the massacre of 1506, which was dedicated in 2006. The victims were New Christians massacred in a pogrom. The sixth image is from wikipedia. We saw this again the next day with our tour group.






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