the district
How the Baixa was rebuilt after 1755, and why its grid suits a food walk
The earthquake, the Marquis of Pombal and the squares at either end of your route.
Reserve a place on the Baixa walk ↗The Baixa in dates
| Date | What happened |
|---|---|
| 1 November 1755 | An earthquake, a tsunami and a fire destroy most of Lisbon, including the Ribeira Palace |
| From 1755 | The Marquis of Pombal orders the rebuilding; the Baixa takes its grid plan |
| 1873 | The Rua Augusta Arch on Praça do Comércio is completed |
| 1886 | The monument to the Restorers goes up on Restauradores Square |
| 2004 | The Baixa Pombalina is placed on Portugal's tentative list for World Heritage |
1 November 1755
The Great Lisbon earthquake struck on 1 November 1755. It was followed by a tsunami and by fire, and together they destroyed most of the city. Among the losses was the Ribeira Palace, the king's residence beside the Tagus, which stood where Praça do Comércio now lies. The square's old name, Terreiro do Paço, still means Palace Yard. The destruction is the starting point for everything on a Baixa walk, because the district the guide leads you through is the one that replaced it.
The Marquis of Pombal's brief
The Marquis of Pombal was prime minister to King Joseph I from 1750 to 1777, and he took the lead in ordering Lisbon rebuilt. He imposed strict conditions, and the plan that resulted differs sharply from the organic street pattern that had grown up in the Baixa before the earthquake. The district is named after him: the Baixa Pombalina, the Pombaline downtown. Its straight streets run north from the river towards Rossio and Figueira squares and the Avenida da Liberdade, which is why a walk from Praça do Comércio to Praça dos Restauradores follows an almost direct line.
Buildings meant to survive
The Pombaline Baixa is one of the first examples of earthquake-resistant construction. Architectural models were tested by having troops march around them to simulate a quake. Among the features that make the buildings notable is the Pombaline cage, a symmetrical lattice of wood framing meant to spread the force of a tremor, and inter-terrace walls built higher than the roof timbers so that a fire could not leap from one house to the next. When you stop on one of the grid's streets for a plate of food, you are standing in front of terraces built on this model.
The squares at either end
Praça do Comércio was remodelled after the earthquake as a large rectangular square shaped like a U, open to the Tagus, designed under the Marquis of Pombal by the architect Eugénio dos Santos. The ground floors of the surrounding buildings have galleries, and two towers mark the ends of the arms. Many of the ministries of the Portuguese state were housed in them, and the Supreme Court is there still. The Rua Augusta Arch, a triumphal arch designed by Santos de Carvalho, was only finished in 1873. At the other end of the Baixa, Restauradores Square honours the restoration of independence in 1640 after sixty years under Spain; its obelisk was erected in 1886.
Why the grid suits eating on foot
A grid makes a tasting walk simple. Streets cross at right angles, the stops on the outline sit on named streets, and a guide can lead a group from one counter to the next without a map. The Baixa tour's route runs between the two squares, with Rua dos Fanqueiros, Rua da Vitória and Rua da Madalena as the stops on the outline. The outline's streets lie in and around the district rebuilt after 1755, so the history is not a separate lecture but the ground under your feet.
What to look at between bites
Look up. The Baixa's buildings are uniform in height and rhythm, a deliberate result of the planning, and the arcades of Praça do Comércio are the clearest example. Look at the cobbles, laid in patterns under the café terraces. Look for the district's landmarks: Praça do Comércio, Rossio, Praça da Figueira and Restauradores Square. And if the guide points out the Igreja de São Domingos, you are looking at one of the landmarks on the route.
A district on the World Heritage shortlist
The Baixa Pombalina was placed on Portugal's tentative list of potential World Heritage Sites on 7 December 2004. The submission claims that the district is superior to the planned areas of Edinburgh, Turin and London, and points out that the plans drawn up for rebuilding London after the Great Fire of 1666 did not implement overall principles of the kind achieved in the Pombaline Baixa. A tentative list is only a first step, but it explains why the grid is treated as more than a street plan: it is one of the first examples of earthquake-resistant construction.
Where to wander afterwards
The walk finishes at Restauradores Square, at the south-east end of Avenida da Liberdade, a tree-lined boulevard noted for its tailoring shops and cafés. The square is surrounded by 19th and early 20th century buildings. The most remarkable are the Palácio Foz, built between the 18th and 19th centuries and boasting richly decorated interiors, and the old Éden Cinema, now a hotel, with an Art Deco façade from the 1930s by the architect Cassiano Branco. Rossio and Praça da Figueira lie a short walk back down the grid, so a post-tour stroll can retrace the district in the opposite direction.