Lisbon Baixa

The Baixa is the planned heart of Lisbon, a neat grid of straight streets laid out after the 1755 earthquake. It stretches north from the Praça do Comércio beside the Tagus to the Rossio and Figueira squares. The Marquis of Pombal directed the rebuilding and gave the district its regular pattern. Before the quake the streets had wound like those in Alfama beneath the castle. The grid still carries tailoring shops and cafés along the tree-lined Avenida da Liberdade. Pombal’s engineers created one of the first earthquake-proof districts. Troops marched around scale models to test their stability. Each building has a Pombaline cage, a wooden lattice that spreads tremors evenly through the walls. Inter-terrace walls rise above the roofs to block fire from spreading. Lisbon’s plan was judged superior to London’s after the Great Fire and Edinburgh’s proposals. Visitors walk the wide streets between Praça do Comércio, Rossio and Praça da Figueira. The squares frame grand façades and open spaces. Restauradores Square marks the start of the avenue. The regular blocks and tall, uniform buildings show how the 18th century rebuilt a city that had been destroyed.