Park of Nations (Parque das Nações). Parque des Nations, Lisbon - the most modern Portugal Here are the opening hours, ticket prices, etc.
Not far from the historical center of Lisbon there are two interesting places with views of the sea and the most beautiful Lisbon bridges. One of them is the Park of Nations with the Vasco da Gama Bridge, the other is the ancient Belem and the 25th of April Bridge. Parque des Nations is easily accessible by metro, and Belém is either a few stops away by train, bus or tram number 15. The places are completely different in spirit and appearance, but at the same time equally interesting and worth visiting.
1. Parque des Nations - a huge architectural complex on the shores of Lisbon Bay, opened for the world exhibition Expo 98 and the anniversary of Vasco da Gama's return from his first expedition to India. Usually people come here for the whole day - there are many cafes, restaurants, entertainment complexes, an aquarium, and a cable car stretched along the embankment. I arrived for a couple of hours - and the main goal was to see the famous Vasco da Gama Bridge, one of two suspension bridges within Lisbon across Mar da Paglia Bay and the mouth of the Tagus River.
2. Park of Nations is a paradise for lovers of high-tech and modern architecture.
The Vasco da Gama cable-stayed bridge crosses the bay northeast of the city center. It was opened in 1998 for Expo 98 and the 500th anniversary of Vasco da Gama's discovery of the sea route to India. This is one of the longest bridges in Europe - 17 kilometers with approaches. At the same time, the length of the channel part is 830 meters and the central cable-stayed span is 420 meters. This is the second bridge over the Tagus River in Lisbon. The opening of this six-lane bridge has significantly relieved congestion on the old 25 April Bridge and improved the transport situation in the Lisbon metropolitan area of 3 million.
Lisbon is located on the right bank of the Tagus River (one of the main rivers of Spain and Portugal) at its mouth - the wide Mar da Paglia Bay, which extends far inland. So it’s not quite a river anymore, but it’s not quite a sea either. :) The Vasco da Gama Bridge is located above the center of Lisbon along the river and further from the ocean - here the water in the bay is not yet salty, and the color of the water is not ocean blue, but river brown-brown. The depths are also shallow; in the bay, the fairway of the river bed on the right bank and shallow water spaces extending for many kilometers to the left bank are clearly visible.
3. The tides in Lisbon Bay are very strong - I found myself on the shore at low tide: the water went down several tens of meters, exposing the brown bottom. But some time passed, and it began to arrive literally before our eyes.
4. The central part of the Vasco da Gama bridge on the right bank of the Tagus estuary.
5. The trestle part extends for many kilometers along the shallow waters of the bay.
7. It’s already quite far from the ocean here - this part of the bay is quite shallow. The navigable fairway is marked with navigational signs.
8. In the Park of Nations, convenient bridges are laid along the coast.
9. A large hotel and a 145-meter Vasco da Gama tower with an observation deck at the top were built right on the shore in 1998. Unfortunately, this observation room has not been working for several years.
Now, from the relatively new Park of Nations, which opened 20 years ago, let’s move to ancient Belém. This is an old district of Lisbon, located on the shore of a bay, close to the ocean. It survived the 1755 earthquake and is home to a number of key must-see attractions in the Portuguese capital. Belem (or Belem, as it is also called) is associated with the sea and the Age of Discovery, the golden time when Portugal was the mistress of the seas.
10. From Lisbon Cais do Sodre station to Belem - just 8 minutes by high-speed train. Moreover, trains run every 20 minutes. The photo shows the square in front of the Belem Palace, the official residence of the President of Portugal.
11. Next is the perfectly preserved Jeronimos Monastery, a living witness of the Age of Discovery. Its construction began as early as 1501, shortly after the return of Vasco da Gama from his first expedition to India, and was financed mainly by income received from the trade in Indian spices. The monastery, as often happened in those days, took more than a hundred years to build and was completed by the beginning of the 17th century.
14. Multi-colored houses and the pylon of the 25th of April suspension bridge - opened in 1966 and connecting the northern and southern shores of Tagus Bay, near the place where it flows into the open ocean.
15. On the shore of the bay there is the famous Monument to the Discoverers. From here, centuries ago, brave travelers went to sea - in search of new lands, new adventures, new trade routes with new territories. They were heading towards the unknown... These were dangerous journeys; not all of these brave people were able to return to their home harbor of Lisbon.
17. At the top of the monument there is an observation deck, which offers a magnificent view of Belem, the bay and the bridge.
19. The 25th of April Bridge crosses the shores of the bay closer to the ocean than the Vasco da Gama Bridge. It’s already very deep here, there are no shallow waters and the water is no longer river brown, but real turquoise, sea water. Due to the great depths and the difficulty of constructing supports, the bay had to be covered with a large span of a suspension system (a classic solution for bridges across large sea straits). Based on the length of the central span (1017 meters), this bridge is one of the 20 largest in the world. The bridge structures are painted red and are very similar (the central span is a little more than 1280 meters).
20. Unlike the second Lisbon bridge “Vasco da Gama”, the “25 April Bridge” is combined: at the upper level there is a highway, and at the bottom there is a busy railway line connecting Lisbon with the south of Portugal.
21. A cruise ship passes under the bridge span, and a statue of Christ is on the high bank.
The story of how old Lisbon showed everyone that he keeps up with the times.
This happened in 1998, when on the site of the industrial zone, for the international exhibition Expo-98, a block of modern architecture with developed infrastructure grew up. The event was timed to coincide with the 500th anniversary of the discovery of the sea route to India by Vasco da Gama.
The exhibition was a great success, but the most important thing is that after Expo 98 ended, the area did not wither away, as happens with such grandiose projects, but began to develop at an accelerated pace, for example, today about 25 thousand people live here.
The second name of the Expo 98 area is the Park of Nations, which stretches for more than 5 kilometers along the river, where, in addition to modern residential and office buildings, there is much more interesting.
People come here to stroll along the Tagus, go shopping in the Shopping Center, dine in good restaurants, go to a concert, look at the underwater world in the aquarium, try their luck at the casino, or just admire the sunset sky, where the 17-kilometer-long water surface cuts across the horizon bridge named after Vasco da Gama.
Now it seems impossible that on the site of the modern area there were oil refineries, landfills, abandoned warehouses, and even slaughterhouses.
The embankment area includes gardens, play areas, bike paths and cafes. We will tell you about the most interesting and significant buildings in the park, as well as some of the sculptures that are scattered throughout the Expo area.
Oriente train station
The station building was designed, dare I say it, by the brilliant architect Santiago Calatrave. The building made of gray concrete causes a mixed reaction among many. But if you see that around this structure there are mirrored and glossy facades of office buildings, then the gray structure of the station balances the composition. The station building resembles the skeleton of a huge whale or dinosaur.
This is one of Lisbon's major transport hubs: there is a metro station underground Oriente, above there is a bus station, from where intercity buses depart in almost all directions, and at the top there is a railway station.
Evening lighting gives the station design additional charm.
Opposite the station, like a spaceship with two towers, there is a shopping center Vasco da Gamma. Two towers are residential high-rises Sao Gabriel And Sao Rafael, named after the sailing ships on which the navigator discovered the sea route to India.
On the third floor of the shopping center there is an excellent food court with good restaurants, and on the open veranda you can eat with a view of the Tagus embankment and the Park of Nations.
In this part of the Expo 98 zone there is a park area with fountains, benches, exhibition pavilions and modern sculptures.
The first thing that will attract your attention will be a huge iron structure that resembles either a person or a giant insect.
Sculpture by Portuguese master Jorge Vieira. An anthropomorphic iron structure about 20 meters high, more like a huge alien creature. The sculpture is a symbiosis of abstraction and surrealism.
It starts right after it Rossio dos Olivais, a row of flagpoles and a water canal - this square is considered the center of the Park of Nations.
On the left side the space dish of the Atlantic Pavilion landed; today this structure is known as MEO arena where concerts take place. A North American architectural bureau collaborated on the project S.O.M. and the Portuguese Regina Cruz ( Regino Cruz).
On the right side is the Portugal pavilion, designed by Alvaro Siza Vieira ( Álvaro Siza Vieira). At first glance, it is a rather simple white structure, two building bodies that are connected by a slightly bent concrete sheet, like a thin sheet of paper.
This makes for some pretty nice photos. The building acts as a frame to the landscape that opens on the other side: a river, a bridge, a cable car, and people walking.
Near the Portugal pavilion there is another interesting art object.
Rhizoma Rhizome
The design of nine male iron legs located at different angles is the brainchild of the Englishman Antony Gormley. The sculptor brings the human body to the fore in almost all of his works. From a distance this object looks like a tree.
Volcano fountains
In the middle of the shady alley of Alameda dos Osianos there are six cone fountains. These bright 4-meter “volcanoes” are not simple: in the summer, every 25 seconds, water bursts out of the crater in a powerful jet 3 meters high, like a volcanic eruption.
Many travelers who are unaware of this feature often fall into a water trap. Multi-colored fountains are connected by channels along which benches are located.
If you decide to walk along the alley, you will notice a black glass box - this is a building.
But let's return closer to the embankment, where we will notice another art object, around which people usually crowd and shout something. This is a sculpture - Horas de Chumbo.
Two iron conical pipes look like horns. This sculpture seems to breathe in the wind and creates an echo. You too can participate in this process: say something into the trumpet and listen to how your voice connects with the wind. The author is Portuguese Rui Chafes.
It will be interesting for people traveling with children Knowledge Pavilion: Living Science. Pavilhão do Conhecimento: Ciência Viva.
Within the walls of the building lies an educational children's center, where you can playfully learn the laws of physics, play the role of Sherlock Holmes or a crazy Chemist. Exhibits in the museum change periodically.
Also located in the Park of Nations. The American Peter Chermayeff, a well-known specialist in such structures, worked on the project. This is the largest aquarium in Europe. 7 thousand cubic meters of sea water, glass partitions, and you feel like you’re at the bottom of the sea - an incredible sight!
The idea belongs to the Portuguese artist and designer Fernanda Fragateiro. The benches in this garden are covered with small mosaics, and the art object is a curtain that separates the roadway from the quiet park of palm trees.
Hidden among the trees was a white giraffe, bowing in front of the mirror.
The bright blue building is the Camões Theater, with a glass façade facing the river. This is a ballet theater.
Opposite the theater building, curious art object hunters can find Reflexo do céu, or rather what’s left of it.
There were once three huge stainless steel blades that were driven by the wind. Today there are only two left. The six-meter art object belongs to the Japanese sculptor Susumu Shingu.
Cable car
Behind the aquarium building there is a cable car, the cabins of which offer panoramic views of the Parc des Nations.
A 145-meter tower in the shape of a sail - a tower named after who do you think? Of course, Vashko de Gama. During the exhibition, there was a restaurant on the upper round platform. Today, the five-star MYRIAD hotel with panoramic views has been added to the tower.
A green park, this part of the area is popular with runners and cyclists. This zone contains plants from different parts of the planet - Goa, China, Mozambique and Angola, Brazil, etc. mostly from those countries where Portuguese sailors managed to make their mark.
Hiding among this greenery.
Marble sculptures of Kustodiev women refer us to the mythical sirens. Carefree naked nymphs of the waters of the Tagus River seduce sailors who sail in a traditional boat. The author is Portuguese João Pires Cutileiro.
A bit of pop art in traditional Portuguese guise - azulejos
On the territory of the Expo-98 park there are two walls - panels with superheroes and cartoon characters at the metro station Oriente. By the famous Icelandic artist Erro (Gúdmundur Gudmundsson).
The second panel is already located on the territory of the park itself, decorating the façade of the hotel. It is also made in a comic book style. On them you will find the characters you or your children love, be it the nephews of Scrooge McDuck or Mike Wazowski and Boo from Monsters, Inc.
Today the park extends far beyond the famous Navigator Bridge, under which skaters, rollerbladers and other extreme sports fans like to gather.
The construction of the modern area has hardly affected the natural ecosystem, so if you see people with binoculars in the bushes, do not be alarmed - these are typical amateurs birdwatching.
After walking around the park to your heart's content, you can dine at one of the restaurants that offers a variety of cuisines, from local Portuguese to Italian, Chinese and just burgers.
Set on the banks of the Tagus River, MYRIAD is a unique, futuristic-style hotel with panoramic views. Thank you! Very friendly staff. Great, nutritious breakfasts before starting your daily adventures. Everything was great!
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Average price/night: RUB 11,598.
9.3 Excellent 2,709 reviews
Ibis Lisboa Parque das Naçõe is located in Lisbon's modern Parque des Nations district, in a quiet area 15 minutes' drive from the centre. Excellent and comfortable accommodation option, close to the airport (about 10 minutes by taxi - 8 euros), near the Oriente train station, the large Vasco da Gama shopping center (about 300 m). We got a room on the 6th floor. overlooking the Vasco da Gama Bridge. The room was nicely decorated, the bed was super comfortable, central air conditioning, we had a great rest before our early flight. We couldn’t appreciate breakfast, it starts at 6.30 (we didn’t have time). We were pleased with the standards of Ibis once again.
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Average price/night: RUB 6,229.
8.5 Very good 2,984 reviews
Hotel in Parque des Nations, Lisbon
Hotel Olissippo Oriente is located in Lisbon's Nacoes Park, just 300 meters from Vasco da Gama Shopping Center and a 4-minute walk from the transport hub of Oriente Station... I liked the location near Altice Arena. Also within walking distance of the metro, a large shopping center, a train station, and an airport. A compliment was waiting in the room - a bottle of water and 4 egg pastries, very nice and tasty! There was a coffee machine in the room, but I didn't use it. The staff made sure there was water in it. The room was comfortable and clean, on the right you could see the river in the distance. Interesting elevators - the floor number is selected from outside and the system shows which of the two elevators you should enter to arrive at the requested floor. Breakfast is varied, classic dishes, lots of pastries, super delicious Portuguese egg tarts! The staff is sympathetic and friendly. I flew out early and was given a box of breakfast to take with me. Also, while I was waiting for a taxi, I was offered a cup of coffee. Judging by previous reviews, the hotel listens to the opinions of its customers and improves its service, which is good news! I liked everything, thank you!
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Average price/night: RUB 7,517.
8.6 Amazing 3,776 reviews
Hotel in Parque des Nations, Lisbon
This renovated hotel is located in the heart of Lisbon's Parque des Nations. There are trendy restaurants around. It features refurbished spacious rooms and a new restaurant. Great location. Check-in without problems at any time of the day. The breakfasts are excellent.
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Average price/night: RUB 7,303.
8.4 Very good 1,911 reviews
Hotel in Parque des Nations, Lisbon
The modern Tivoli Oriente Hotel is located in Lisbon's famous Parc des Nations district, overlooking the Tagus River. The hotel is located next to the railway station, opposite a large shopping center, an aquarium a stone's throw away. A very beautiful modern area of Lisbon, beautiful views of the waterfront. Stunning sky bar on the 16th floor of the hotel with panoramic views of the river and ocean. To get the same view from your room, you need to book the appropriate river view room type. The standards only have a view of the railway tracks. But this did not spoil our holiday at all. We will definitely come back and take a suite next time. This place is worth it!
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Average price/night: RUB 8,520.
8.7 Amazing 3,259 reviews
Hotel in Parque des Nations, Lisbon
The stylish and modern Vip Executive Arts Hotel is less than 500 meters from the Tagus River and Lisbon International Exhibition Centre. I was very pleased with the staff, everything was superbly organized, quickly and professionally, they always helped to navigate the city (how and where to get there), find where to relax, what to see, recommended good restaurants,
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Average price/night: RUB 7,088.
7.9 Good 5,171 reviews
Nations Park, Lisbon
Rainbow House Apartment offers accommodation in Lisbon, 1.6 km from Lisbon Aquarium. It features a garden, free Wi-Fi and room service. The windows overlook the garden. Feel free to book accommodation for your family (there were 5 of us, including 3 children aged 10-14 years). Convenient location: shopping center 300-500 meters until 24:00 (solve all the main issues there); by metro to any point, there is also a station here (to Sintra, for example). A room that includes little things (dishes, dishwasher tablets (although we have our own); coffee maker with capsules; soap, even kitchen towels, hair dryer, clothes dryer, iron. In general, everything is there. The greeter is a very open person, always at communications. Three bedrooms, which is convenient for those traveling with adult children. We did not use the parking lot, since we traveled on foot by train through the towns and to the Algarve coast, where we spent an excellent 8 days. We started from the station next to the house. From there (from the Apartments) to the airport is three metro stops: convenient for those who fly with Aeroflot's pace at 8:40.
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Average price/night: RUB 11,025.
9.5 Excellent 141 reviews
Nations Park, Lisbon
Offering free WiFi and river views, Baltic Apartment is located in Lisbon, less than 1 km from Lisbon Aquarium. Large modern apartment with panoramic views of the Tagus Estuary and the Vasco de Gama Bridge. There is absolutely everything you need, including a capsule coffee maker. Convenient parking on level -4, elevator directly to the apartment. A comprehensive set of instructions in a neat folder. A very friendly hostess, initial contact via WhatsApp, met us at the parking gate exactly as agreed. Within walking distance there is a huge shopping center with a supermarket. It's nice to stroll along the embankment and boulevards, they are literally under your windows. And the aquarium is very close.
It’s not hot yet, so it’s very pleasant to walk.
The Park of Nations opened recently, for the international exhibition EXPO-98. Now it is one of the favorite holiday destinations of Lisbon residents.
And here is the aquarium itself, outwardly it does not correspond to the title of the largest in Europe:
Favorite place for photos of almost everyone who comes here:
This group of tourists looks very touching:
Interestingly, the uniform includes panama hats for girls and baseball caps for boys (though there were only two of them).
You cannot take pictures with a flash in the aquarium itself, so most of the photos, due to their quality, immediately went to the trash can...
The slopes from below look very interesting. Personally, they remind me of the “best ghost in the world” from a sheet with slits for eyes and mouth from the stories about Karlsson:
Photos of reservoirs with tropical animals and vegetation turned out a little better:
Looking at this flounder, I still didn’t understand whether it was slightly buried in the sand, or whether it took on the “background” color (even as a child I read that if you put a flounder on a chessboard, it will also become “checkered”).
I hope the penguin is not looking around for food.
And for dessert (although in fact you will meet them at the very beginning of the route) I will introduce you to the main paws of the oceanarium - sea otters (sometimes they are called sea beavers, although it would be more correct to say sea otters). Of course, in statics they lose a lot...
The pool in which the sea otters live (we only saw one) is small, but very deep, since in the wild they often dive to get food. Sea otters feed on sea urchins, crabs and other crustaceans (their homeland is the Far East, the Pacific Ocean, the region of the Kuril and Commander Islands). And in order to split the shells of crabs and hedgehogs, sea otters practically use a tool - a stone. Having caught prey at depth, the sea otter comes to the surface, lies on its back, places the trophy on its stomach, takes a stone in its paw and uses it to split the shell of a crab or hedgehog. Moreover, the sea otter does not throw away the stone itself, but hides it under his armpit, presses it to his body and dives with it again. And so again and again...
We stayed in the aquarium for a little over two hours. Perhaps this is the bare minimum that should be allocated to it.
Directly opposite the aquarium there is a boarding point for the cable car. A one-way ticket costs 3.90, with a return ticket - 6 euros. We chose the "one way ticket" and I think we were right. At this time there were no people yet, and almost all the cabins were empty. The trip lasts about 8 minutes, and this is what you can see from above:
The most central and most bulky structure of the park: the Atlantic Pavilion:
Having descended “from heaven” onto the sinful earth, we went to the metro and on the way we met an unusual fountain. Approximately every 2-3 minutes it “erupts,” which was very important in light of the Icelandic volcano that had not yet subsided. The process looks something like this:
Banana season is coming soon:
We returned back by metro the same way, got to Rossio and walked 2 minutes to the stop of tram 15 at Placa da Figueira. Despite the name "high-speed", the tram is very slow! Actually, the reason here is not in the tram itself, but in the number of traffic lights that come across it on its way. And he makes quite a lot of stops and often. As a result, it took us half an hour, if not more, to get to Belém (those who, like us, are going to the Jeronimos Monastery, need to get off at the stop of the same name). We get off the tram - and here it is, one of the wonders of Lisbon architecture and the Manueline style - the famous Jeronimite Monastery, also known as the Jeronimos Monastery.
The southern portal is also famous for the fact that European leaders were photographed against its background after the signing of the Lisbon Agreements. However, Henry the Navigator, whose statue is located above between the doors, looks at this vanity condescendingly: “you come and go, your names will sink into oblivion, but I will always be here and I will always be remembered.”
So much has already been written about the monastery that it simply doesn’t make sense to do it again. The only thing that remains a mystery to me is: what kind of sarcophagi, allegedly belonging to Vasco da Gama and Camões, did we see in the National Pantheon, if both are buried here?
By the way, the tomb of Camoens, located here, is empty. According to one version, the poet was too poor, died of the plague and was buried in an unknown mass grave. According to another, during the earthquake of 1755, his sarcophagus split, and the ashes were carried away by the wind. What actually happened, we will probably never know.
The inside of the monastery is perhaps even more impressive than the outside. An ornate web of arches, columns with a sophisticated relief pattern... All this is fascinating and attracts the eye for a long time. The interior of the monastery church is perhaps the most impressive of similar ones we have seen not only in Portugal. And again, I note with regret that due to the ban on the use of flash, the photos turned out very poorly...
During the restoration of 1850, the monastery was expanded, a western wing was added to it, which now houses several museums. Did this add beauty and grace to the monastery? In my opinion, unlikely. The building turned out to be disproportionately long, and in addition, the original western facade is now lost next to the extension.
On the square in front of the monastery there is a park with a fountain.
On this topic, the following fantasy of playing water with a stone arose:
On the Tagus embankment opposite the monastery there is the so-called Monument to the Discoverers - the great navigators, built in 1960.
The monument is stylized as a caravel sailing with full sails. At the base there are 33 sculptures, each 3 human heights high. The faces of all the figures are carefully drawn, but only one has a real portrait resemblance, the very first one is Prince Enrique the Navigator.
Who, by the way, was not a sailor himself in the broad sense of the word: he sailed only in the Mediterranean Sea, once reaching Morocco. But he was very interested in navigation and understood the importance of such travel for the development of the country, founded a navigation school, collecting in it the best knowledge of that time about ships, seas and all other subtleties of marine science. Under him, Portugal began to build the most modern ships. In general, it was Prince Enrique (who never became king, not being the eldest son of the monarch) who prepared the ground for further great maritime discoveries made by the Portuguese.
"All of you, paladins of the Green Temple,
Over the cloudy sea, watching the rhumb,
Gonzalvo and Cook, La Perouse and da Gama,
Dreamer and king, Genoese Columbus!
Ganon the Carthaginian, Prince of Senegambia,
Sinbad the Sailor and mighty Ulysses,
Your victories are celebrated in praise
Gray waves rushing towards the cape!
Let the sea go crazy and whip,
The crests of the waves rose into the sky,—
No one trembles before a thunderstorm,
Not one will furl the sails.
Are these hands given to cowards?
That sharp, confident look
What can he do against enemy feluccas?
Suddenly abandon the frigate,
A well-aimed bullet, a sharp iron
Overtake gigantic whales
And notice in the multi-starred night
Security light of beacons"
N.S. Gumilyov, “Captains”
Inside the monument there is an elevator, on which (for, it seems, 2.5 euros) you can go up to the observation deck at an altitude of about 50 m. At first, for some reason, I was skeptical about this procedure, but in the end I have to admit that it was worth it.
And this is a stylization made of paving stones with a map on which the main routes of the famous Portuguese travelers are marked. To understand the scale of the map, pay attention to the figures of ant people on it:
Here are its fragments closer (view from below):
and we move on to our last attraction - the Belem Tower. By this point the heat had already reached its peak for the day, and we thought it was good that it was somewhat cooler during the trip to Sintra.
Belem Tower is one of the oldest buildings in Lisbon. It would be more correct to call it Bethlehem, since this area of the city - Belen - received its name from Bethlehem. Why this is so is very difficult to say today; there are only guesses and assumptions on this matter.
At the end of the 15th century, King John II developed defense systems for the mouth of the Tagus River by building fortresses at Cascais and Caparique. However, these fortresses did not provide complete protection, so to guard the approaches to the Jeronimos Monastery, another fort was built in the early 16th century in the form of a tower, named after the patron saint of Lisbon, Saint Vincent. Along the way, it served as a lighthouse. Its creator was the military architect Francisco de Arruda, who studied fortification art in Morocco, so the architecture of the tower has Arabic motifs, and its shape is reminiscent of the minaret of the El Koutoubia Mosque in Marrakech. Whether it was the merit of the architect, or whether it was the will of God, the tower turned out to be very strong - it withstood the great Lisbon earthquake. It was partially destroyed later, during the Napoleonic wars, when the French committed outrages in Portugal, and in the mid-19th century it was restored in its modern form. Externally, the Belem Tower represents a seemingly incompatible combination of elegance, pomp, but at the same time military severity.
Initially, the tower stood on a small island near the shore, but over time the coastline changed so that it was almost on the shore.
Not far from the tower there is a metal model of it, which has been fairly tampered with by inquisitive tourists:
The Belem Tower consists of two parts: the bastion and the 4-story tower itself, located on the north side of the bastion. In the bastion, 16 cannons are placed in special niches in the wall:
This is how the tower appears from the bastion:
Inside the tower turned out to be unexpectedly interesting. Despite its seemingly small size, it is very capacious for internal spaces. All 5 (with the bastion) floors are open to the public, and on each there was something interesting: either an original balcony or a beautiful view.
The spiral staircase leading from floor to floor is so narrow that it is very difficult for two adults to pass each other on it.
View of the bastion from the third floor:
On the southern side of the bastion you can see a small sculpture of a rhinoceros head (it has already been torn off from the model):
The story itself is interesting about how this animal, exotic for Portugal, served as decoration for such a brutal object. In 1515 from India A live rhinoceros was delivered to the court of King Manuel I, which made an incredible impression on the monarch, so strong that he ordered a “portrait” of the rhinoceros from Albrecht Dürer himself:
Then it occurred to the king to check which of the animals living in his overseas possessions was stronger. To do this, they released a rhinoceros into the arena, having previously angered him, and put an elephant against him. However, the expected enjoyment of the fight did not happen, because the elephant, seeing the enemy, broke through the wall of the arena and ran away. As a result, the rhinoceros received the title of the strongest and they decided to send it as a gift to the Pope. The rhinoceros was loaded onto a ship, which sank along with the unfortunate animal along the way...
At this point, the program for visiting Portugal was completed, but finally we decided to go to Cascais purely “optional” in order (maybe for an internal “tick”) to see the ocean. Moreover, the journey from Belem to Cascais is very quick and convenient: we walked about 15 minutes (however, the heat did not make the walk easy, and the traditional paving stones for Portugal were already quite annoying to our feet) to the nearest station Alges, where trains coming from Lisbon to Cascais. As on the line to Sintra, the interval between trains is very short, about 15 minutes, and the ride to Cascais from here is 25 minutes. True, for travel I had to buy new light green cards (with the abbreviation CP), ordinary city cards are not suitable for this.
Cascais is a cute seaside resort town on the Portuguese Riviera, which is especially decorated with a large number of palm trees:
The city has a long history, but its true flourishing, which continues to this day, began at the end of the 19th century with the light hand of King Louis I, who chose Cascais as his residence and turned it into a fashionable and expensive aristocratic resort. During World War II, many European politicians, writers and actors, and later members of royal families, found shelter here. As a result, almost the entire city is a large private property owned by emigrants from high society.
Cascais also has its own fortress - a citadel from the 14th century. But it houses one of the residences of the Minister of Defense and a small garrison, so it is not of interest for viewing.
Cozy streets, small squares, embankment - all this allows you to have a good time and relax. If you are lucky with the water temperature, you can also take a swim on the small sandy city beach.
From the city center our path led to the so-called “mouth of hell” (Boca do Inferno), which received such a menacing name from the sounds with which the waves break in a cave in the coastal cliffs.
Returning to Lisbon, we once again went up to the Santa Justa observation deck, where we saw the last sunset in Portugal:
Adeush, Lizboa! Goodbye Portugal!