A decade ago, Lisbon
was a city with a slight image problem. The capital of Portugal,
a country dubbed the ‘Poor Man of Europe’,
was often regarded as a rundown, shambolic and poverty-stricken
place. and any locals, while being proud of their lively and colourful
home, found it difficult to disagree.
Today, Lisbon is experiencing the kind of renaissance
which has not been seen since the 14th and 15th centuries, when
the city was at the heart of an empire that stretched from Brazil
to India. The event credited with kicking off this recent rejuvenation
was the World Expo in 1998. The city managed to
squeeze both the central government and the European Union for financial
backing, as the authorities hauled the city into shape. Included
in this was a new bridge across the River Tagus,
a major expansion of the crumbling metro system and the massive
redevelopment of the Expo site, the Parque das Nações.
Lisbon was quick to seize on the catalyst of Expo 98
and used the worldwide exposure well, to put itself firmly on the
tourist and business map. The city has taken its traditional charms
along with the friendliness of its people, its buzzing nightlife,
the splendour of its natural setting and moulded them into a very
attractive package.
This new golden age really began even earlier, during 1994, when
Lisbon was proclaimed European City of Culture,
and it continued, with Portugal hosting the European Football
Championships in 2004.
Lisbon’s superb natural setting, spread across 7 hills and
hugging the banks of the wide River Tagus estuary,
attracted settlers as far back as 900BC, with the arrival of the
Phoenicians. However, its zenith was reached in
the 14th and 15th centuries, when its explorers set out to investigate
the world’s many oceans. Some of the city’s grandest
buildings, such as those along the waterfront in the suburb of
Bélem, are legacies of those days. However, most
of the city centre Baixa area only dates back to
the 18th century, when a large swathe of Lisbon had to be rebuilt
after the devastating earthquake during 1755. Lisbon’s famous
fado music mournfully recounts the passing of the
maritime golden age and such traumas as the earthquake. However,
Lisbonetas today have a renewed spring in their step and have come
a long way, in a fairly short time, from the introspection and fatalism
of fado.
Twenty-first century Lisbon is a vibrant, cosmopolitan
and creative place that has managed to successfully marry the historic
with the modern, the traditional with the cutting edge. Lisbon is
at its best on languorous summer evenings, when the many pavement
cafés and riverside restaurants bustle with steamy life.
Even in the winter, when the rain sweeps in off the Atlantic, any
brief snatch of sunshine brings the tables back outside, in a city
where enjoying life and taking time to appreciate it is still paramount. |
