The city is connected to the far side of the Tagus by two bridges:
The April 25 Bridge, inaugurated (as the Ponte Salazar) August 6, 1966,
and later renamed after the date of the Carnation Revolution.
The Vasco da Gama Bridge, inaugurated May 1998, is one of the longest in
the world.
Demographics
The population of the city is 564,657, according to the 2001 census,
although the metropolitan area (Greater Lisbon) is 2,662,949,
constituting about a third of the population of Portugal. The population
density of the city itself is 6,606.9 inhabitants per km2.
Highlights
The heart of the city is the Baixa or lower town, location of the São
Jorge Castle and the Santa Maria Maior Cathedral. The oldest district of
the city is Alfama, close to the Tagus, which has made it relatively
unscathed through the various earthquakes. Other monuments include:
Jerónimos Monastery The Castle of São Jorge, atop the tallest hill of
the central city Praça do Comércio (public square) Elevador de Santa
Justa, an elevator (lift) in Gothic revival style, built around 1900 and
connecting the upper city to the lower.
Notable among the city's museums are: Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga
Museu Calouste Gulbenkian Oceanário de Lisboa Museu do Design at Centro
Cultural de Belém
History
According to varying reports, the city was founded either by Phoenecians
or Greeks. The Greeks knew it as "Olissipo", derived from Ulysses; over
time, this became "Olissipona", "Lissapona" and finally the modern
Portuguese "Lisboa". The city was part of Roman Lusitania (although not
the capital), was taken by Moors in the Eighth Century (approximately
711), was reconquered 1147 by Don Afonso Henriques, first king of
Portugal (with the help of crusader Gilbert of Hastings, who became the
first Bishop of Lisbon), and has been the capital of Portugal since
1260. The University of Lisbon was founded in 1290. Lisbon reached its
peak of prosperity during the period of the Portuguese Empire in the
16th century. On 26 January 1531 the city was hit by an earthquake which
killed thousands.
On 1 November 1755 Lisbon was destroyed by another earthquake, the 1755
Lisbon earthquake, which killed 90,000 and destroyed eighty-five percent
of the city [1] (http://nisee.berkeley.edu/lisbon/index.html). Voltaire
wrote a long poem, "Poeme sur le desastre de Lisbonne", shortly
afterwards, and mentioned the earthquake in his 1759 novel Candide (indeed,
many argue that this critique of optimism was inspired by that
earthquake). Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. also mentions it in his 1857
poem, The Deacon's Masterpiece, or The Wonderful One-Hoss Shay.
After the 1755 earthquake, the city was rebuilt largely according to the
plans of the Marquês de Pombal; hence the designation of the lower town
as Baixa Pombalina.
Lisbon was the center of a republican revolt October 4-5,1910 and the
Carnation Revolution of April 25, 1974, which overthrew Antonio
Salazar's handpicked successor Marcelo Caetano.
Economy
Lisbon, as the capital city of Portugal, has an economy concentrated on
services. Most of the headquarters of multinacionals operating in
Portugal are concentrated on this city
