between these and the broad pavements are two roadways for trams and heavy traffic. Thus the Avenida has the appearance of three parallel streets, separated by avenues of trees instead of houses. Its width exceeds 300 ft. It owes its name to an obelisk 98 ft. high, erected in 1882 at its southern end, to commemorate the liberation of Portugal from Spanish rule (December, 1640). North and north-east of the Avenida are the Avenida Park, the Edward VII. Park (so named in memory of a visit paid to Lisbon by the king of England in 1903), Campo Grande, with its finely wooded walks, and Campo Pequeno, with the bull-ring. Other noteworthy public gardens are the Passeio da Estrella, commanding magnificent views of the city and river, the Largo do Principe Real, planted with bananas and other tropical trees, the Tapada das Necessidades, originally the park of one of the royal residences, and the Botanical Gardens of the polytechnic school, with a fine avenue of palms and collections of tropical and subtropical flora hardly surpassed in Europe. There are large Portuguese cemeteries east and west of Lisbon, a German cemetery, and an English cemetery, known also as Os Cyprestes from the number of its cypresses. This was laid out in 1717 at the cost of the British and Dutch residents and contains the graves of Henry Fielding (1707–1754), the novelist, and Dr Philip Doddridge (1702–1751), the Nonconformist divine.
Lisbon is the seat of an archbishop who since 1716 has borne ex officio the honorary title of patriarch; he presides over the House of Peers and is usually appointed a cardinal. The churches of modern Lisbon are generally built in the Italian style of the 18th century; the interiors are overlaid with heavy ornament. Perhaps the finest is the Estrella church, with its white marble dome and twin towers visible for many miles above the city. The late Renaissance church of São Roque contains two beautiful chapels dating from the 18th century, one of which is inlaid with painted tiles, while the other was constructed in Rome of coloured marbles, and consecrated by the pope before being shipped to Lisbon. Its mosaics and lapis lazuli pillars are exceptionally fine. The 14th-century Gothic Igreja do Carmo was shattered by the great earthquake. Only the apse, pillared aisles and outer walls remain standing, and the interior has been converted into an archaeological museum. The church of Nossa Senhora da Conceição has a magnificent Manoeline façade.
The Palacio das Cortes, in which both Houses of Parliament sit, is a 16th-century Benedictine convent, used for its present purpose since 1834. It contains the national archives, better known as the Torre do Tombo collection, because in 1375 the archives were first stored in a tower of that name. The royal palace, or Paço das Necessidades, west of Buenos Ayres, is a vast 18th-century mansion occupying the site of a chapel dedicated to Nossa Senhora das Necessidades (i.e. “Our Lady who helps at need”).
The Suburbs of Ajuda and Belem.—In the extreme west of Lisbon, beyond the Alcantara valley, are Belem (i.e. “Bethlehem”), beside the Tagus, and Ajuda, on the heights above. The Paço de Belem, built in 1700 for the counts of Aveiro, became the chief royal palace under John V. (1706–1750). The Torre de Belem, on the foreshore, is a small tower of beautiful design, built in 1520 for the protection of shipping. The finest ecclesiastical building in Portugal except the monasteries of Alcobaça and Batalha also fronts the river. It is the Convento dos Jeronymos, a Hieronymite convent and church, founded in 1499 to commemorate the discovery of the sea-route to India by Vasco da Gama. It was built of white limestone by João de Castilho (d. 1581), perhaps the greatest of Manoeline architects. Its cloisters form a square with blunted corners, surrounded by a two-storeyed arcade, every available portion of which is covered with exquisite sculptures. Parts of the building have been restored, but the cloisters and the beautiful central gateway remain unspoiled. The interior contains many royal tombs, including that of Catherine of Braganza (d. 1705), the wife of Charles II. of England. The supposed remains of Camoens and Vasco da Gama were interred here in 1880. In 1834, when the convent was secularized, its buildings were assigned to the Casa Pia, an orphanage founded by Maria I. Since 1903 they have contained the archaeological collections of the Portuguese Ethnological Museum. The royal Ajuda palace, begun (1816–1826) by John VI. but left unfinished, derives its name from the chapel of N. S. de Ajuda (“Our Lady of Aid”). It contains some fine pictures and historical trophies. In the coach-house there is an unsurpassed collection of state coaches, the cars upon which figures of saints are borne in procession, sedan chairs, old cabriolets and other curious vehicles.
The Environs of Lisbon.—The administrative district of Lisbon has an area of 3065 sq. m., with a population of 709,509 in 1900. It comprises the lower parts of the Tagus and Sado; the sea-coast from 5 m. S. of Cape Carvoeiro to within 3 m. of the bluff called the Escarpa do Rojo; and a strip of territory extending inland for a mean distance of 30 m. This region corresponds with the southern part of Estremadura (q.v.). Its more important towns, Setubal, Cintra, Torres Vedras and Mafra, are described in separate articles. Sines, a small seaport on Cape Sines, was the birthplace of Vasco da Gama. On the left bank of the Tagus, opposite Lisbon, are the small towns of Almada, Barreiro, Aldeia Gallega and Seixal, and the hamlet of Trafaria, inhabited by fishermen. The beautiful strip of coast west of Oeiras and south of Cape Roca is often called the “Portuguese Riviera.” Its fine climate, mineral springs and sea-bathing attract visitors at all seasons to the picturesque fortified bay of Cascaes, or to Estoril, Mont’ Estoril and São João do Estoril, modern towns consisting chiefly of villas, hotels and gardens. The Boca do Inferno (“Mouth of Hell”) is a cavity in the rocks at Cascaes resembling the Bufador at Peñiscola (q.v.). The villages of Carcavellos, Bucellas, Lumiar and Collares produce excellent wines; at Carcavellos is the receiving station for cables, with a large British staff, and a club and grounds where social and athletic meetings are held by the British colony. Alhandra, on the right bank of the Tagus, above Lisbon, was the birthplace of Albuquerque; fighting bulls for the Lisbon arena are bred in the adjacent pastures.
Railways, Shipping and Commerce.—Lisbon has five railway stations—the central (Lisboa-Rocío), for the lines to Cintra, northern and central Portugal, and Madrid via Valencia de Alcántara; the Santa Apolonia or Caes dos Soldados, at the eastern extremity of the quays, for the same lines (excluding Cintra) and for southern Portugal and Andalusia; the Caes do Sodré and Santos, farther west along the quays, for Cascaes; and the Barreiro, on the left bank of the Tagus, for southern Portugal. In 1902 the railways north and south of the Tagus were connected near Lisbon by a bridge. In the previous year an extensive system of electric tramways replaced the old-fashioned cable cars and mule trams. Electric and hydraulic lifts are used where the streets are too steep for trams. Lisbon is lighted by both electricity and gas; it has an admirable telephone service, and is connected by the Carcavellos cable-station with Cornwall (England), Vigo in Galicia, Gibraltar, the Azores and Madeira.
Ships of the largest size can enter the Tagus, and the Barreiro inlet is navigable at low water by vessels drawing 16 ft. There are extensive quays along the right bank, with hydraulic cranes, two graving docks, a slipway, warehouses and lines of railway. The government and private docks are on the left bank. Loading and discharging are principally effected by means of lighters. The exports are wines, oil, fruit, tinned fish, salt, colonial produce, cork, pitwood, leather and wool. The imports include cotton and woollen goods, linen, ale and porter, butter, tea, hardware, tin plates, coal, iron, machinery, chemical manure, &c., from Great Britain; grain and petroleum from the United States; dried codfish from Norway and Newfoundland; silks, perfumery and fancy goods from France; hemp, flax, grain, petroleum and cloth from Russia; linen, machinery, hardware, sugar, &c., from Germany and Holland; iron, steel, timber, pitch and salt fish from the Baltic; cocoa, coffee, wax and rubber from the Portuguese colonies. Towards the close of the 19th century the tourist traffic from Great Britain and Germany attained considerable importance, and Lisbon has long been one of the principal ports of debarcation for passengers from Brazil and of embarcation for emigrants to South America. Shipbuilding, including the construction of vessels for the national navy, is a growing industry. The fisheries have always been important, and in no European fishmarket is the produce more varied. Sardines and tunny are cured and tinned for export. In addition to a fleet of about 600 sailing boats, the Tagus is the headquarters of a small fleet of steam trawlers. The industries of Lisbon include dyeing, distillation of spirits and manufactures of woollen, cotton, silk and linen fabrics, of pottery, soap, paper, chemicals, cement, corks, tobacco, preserved foods and biscuits.
Education and Charity.—Although the seat of the only university in Portugal was fixed at Coimbra in 1527, Lisbon is the educational centre of the Portuguese world, including Brazil.
