Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
DON'T MISS
MUSEU NACIONAL
DO AZULEJO
You haven't been to Lisbon until you've been on the tiles at the
Museu Nacional do Azulejo
(
www.museudoazulejo.pt
;
Rua Madre de Deus 4; admission €5, free 10am-2pm Sun; 10am-6pm Tue-Sun) .
Housed in a sublime 16th-century convent, the museum covers the entire
azulejo
spectrum, from early Ottoman
geometry to zinging altars, scenes of lords a-hunting to Goan intricacies. Star exhibits are a 36m-long panel de-
picting pre-earthquake Lisbon, a Manueline cloister with weblike vaulting and exquisite blue-and-white
azulejos,
and a gold-smothered baroque chapel. Food-inspired
azulejos
- ducks, pigs and the like - adorn the restaurant
opening onto a vine-clad courtyard.
Sights
TOP OF CHAPTER
Baixa & Rossio
After the devastating earthquake of 1755, the Baixa was reborn as a grid - the world's
first ever - as envisioned by the Marquês de Pombal. Wide commercial streets were laid,
with grand plazas, fountains and a triumphal arch evoking the glory of Portuguese royalty.
Today the main drag, pedestrianised Rua Augusta, buzzes with bag-toting shoppers,
camera-wielding tourists and shrill-voiced buskers. For a taste of the trades that once
flourished here, stroll down streets named after
sapateiros
(shoemakers),
correeiros
(sad-
dlers),
douradores
(gilders),
fanqueiros
(cutlers) and even
bacalhoeiros
(cod-fishing ves-
sels).
