DK Travel : Lisbon

These days, fewer visitors approach Lisbon from the sea than once used to, but the wide turn many airliners make over the beach at Caparica – before crossing the river above the red suspension bridge and sweeping over the city’s roofs to the airport – is a pretty good introduction too. Lisbon is a city of immediate charms, and of a deeper beauty that must be sought out. The light loves it, painting it in warm pink hues and bright blues. It is an old place, steeped in history, but not closed in on itself as it once was. Lisbon’s youthful, modern side includes a nightlife which is among Europe’s liveliest, latest and most diverse.

1147: Reconquest

The Christian reconquest of the Iberian peninsula from the Moors began in the north, where Afonso Henriques founded the Portuguese kingdom – as distinct from the future Spanish kingdom of León – in 1140. His armies reached Lisbon in 1147 and took the city following a three-month seige.
13 da Sorte

Most rooms in this good-value pensão near Avenida da Liberdade have nice views over the Jardim Botânico and Parque Mayer, the old vaudeville park, site of a shelved project for a Frank Gehry-designed casino.
138 BC: Roman Occupation

Although they had reached the Iberian peninsula in the second century BC, the Romans did not conquer its westernmost parts until nearly a century later. The trading post of Olisipo, Lisbon’s Greek name (sometimes associated with Ulysses), was occupied in 138 BC.
1497: Vasco da Gama Sails from Belém

The crowning achievement of Portugal’s era of discovery and expansion was Vasco da Gama’s well-documented, nearly year-long voyage to India. Rounding the Cape of Good Hope, he proved Columbus wrong and gave the Portuguese the competitive edge in the spice trade.
1640: Independence from Spain

Spain had usurped the Portuguese throne in 1581, after the death of Dom Sebastião and much of the Portuguese nobility in an ill-conceived military adventure in north Africa. The 1640 coup at Lisbon’s royal palace reinstated self-rule and proclaimed the Duke of Bragança king of Portugal.
1755: The Great Earthquake

On 1 November 1755, All Saints’ Day, a massive earthquake struck southern Portugal and laid waste to central Lisbon. Three shocks were followed by fires and tidal waves. The scale of the destruction shocked the world.
1910: Portugal Becomes a Republic

In 1908, Dom Carlos and his heir were assassinated by republican activists in Terreiro do Paço. The king’s surviving son became Dom Manuel II, but abdicated in October 1910 in the face of a republican revolution. The Republic was formalized on 5 October.
1933: The New State

António de Oliveira Salazar, who had been appointed finance minister in the hope that he could solve the country’s financial crisis, was asked to form a government in 1932. The following year his new constitution was passed by parliament, in effect making him an authoritarian dictator.
1974: The Carnation Revolution

Salazar’s successor Marcelo Caetano and his government were overthrown in a virtually bloodless coup by a group of army captains on 25 April. Three men were killed by shots coming from the headquarters of the PIDE, the political police, as crowds outside cheered the end of its reign of fear.
1986: European Union Membership

After a few tumultuous years following the 1974 revolution, stable democracy was established in Portugal. Independence had already been restored to most of the colonies and Portugal was now ready to turn to Europe. Membership brought a welcome boost to the economy, in the form of both subsidies and foreign investment.

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