Jorge Oliveira, guide extraordinaire, arrived with Jose his intrepid driver, promptly at 9:30 to begin our overview tour of Lisbon.
(Shoutout to Samantha @ Tully Luxury Travel for arranging this 😊).
We began with a lovely drive through the streets of Lisbon- Jorge noting and explaining various points of interest.
Our first stop, at the church of Sao Domingos was emotional and sad. Before we entered the church, Jorge recounted the significance of Rossio Square and the monument before us. Translated to English the plaque on the monument reads: “In memory of the thousands of Jews who were victimed by intolerance and religious fanaticism, killed on the massacre that started on 19 April 1506, on this square”. The history is too sad to recount here, but I urge you to do a Wikipedia search “Lisbon Massacre”.
Jorge explained that most tourists do not visit this particular church- they prefer to visit the more famous Cathedral. The church was ravaged by a fire in 1959, leaving the interior of the church a gutted shell. Upon entering the church we viewed the scorched walls. When the parish rebuilt the roof, the parishioners decided to leave the singed and discolored walls to evidence their ancestral shame.
Leaving Rossio Square we meandered through the winding and sometimes steep streets to Sao Jorge Castle. These streets are reminiscent of San Francisco.
We enjoyed a pleasant walk through the grounds, stopping for photos, appreciating the view…which must be spectacular on a bright sunny day.
Next up we headed to Belém, home of the Portuguese Tart and so much more, including the Jerónimos Monastery .
Jorge ushered us past the long line of folks waiting to purchase sweets at the counter of the world famous Pasteis de Belém. After taking a back of the house peak, we sat and enjoyed a tart with coffee.
Jerónimos Monastery took 100 years to build and is the resting place of 4 kings including Manuel the First. Vasco da Gama is also entombed here.