Page 49 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Lisbon

BAIX A AND A VENID A  47

4 Museu da
Sociedade de
Geografia
Rua das Portas de Santo Antão 100.
Map 7 A2. Tel 213 425 401. @ 709,
711, 736. q Restauradores.
8 compulsory, 3pm first Tue of
month & by appointment. - 7
Located in the Geographical
Society building, the museum
houses an idiosyncratic
ethnographical collection
brought back from Portugal’s
former colonies. On display are
circumcision masks from Guinea
Bissau, musical instruments
and snake spears. From Angola
there are neckrests to sustain Teatro Nacional Dona Maria II in Rossio illuminated by night
coiffures and the ori ginal
padrão – the stone pillar erected disfigured on the upper level daughter. The Neo-Classical
by the Portuguese in 1482 by neon signs, are occupied at structure was built in the
to mark their sovereignty over street level by souvenir shops 1840s by the Italian architect
the colony. Most of the exhibits and cafés. Centre stage is a Fortunato Lodi. The interior was
are arranged along the splendid statue of Dom Pedro IV, the first destroyed by fire in 1964 and
Sala Portugal. emperor of independent Brazil. reconstructed in the 1970s.
At the foot of the statue, the On top of the pediment is
four female figures are allegories Gil Vicente (1465–1536), the
5 Rossio of Justice, Wisdom, Strength founder of Portuguese theatre.
and Moderation. Café Nicola, on the west side
Map 6 B3. @ 711, 732, 736, 759 &
many other routes. q Rossio. In the mid-19th century the of the square, was a favourite
square was paved with wave- meeting place among writers,
Formally called Praça de Dom patterned mosaics which gave including the poet Manuel
Pedro IV, this large square has it the nickname of “Rolling du Bocage (1765–1805), who
been Lisbon’s nerve centre for Motion Square”. The hand-cut was notorious for his satires.
six centuries. During its history it grey and white stone cubes Pastelaria Suiça, on the opposite
has been the stage of bullfights, were the first such designs to side, is popular with tourists
festivals, military parades and decorate the city’s pavements. for its sunlit terrace.
the burning of heretics during Today, only a small central
the Inquisition (see p18). Today section of the design survives.
there is little more than an On the north side of Rossio is 6 Praça da Figueira
occasional political rally, and the Teatro Nacional Dona Maria II, Map 6 B3. @ 714, 759, 760 & many
the sober Pombaline buildings, named after Dom Pedro’s other routes. v 12, 15. q Rossio.
Before the 1755 earthquake
(see pp24–5), the square next
to Rossio was the site of the
Hospital de Todos-os-Santos
(All Saints). In Pombal’s new
design for the Baixa, the square
took on the role of the city’s
central marketplace. In 1885 a
covered market was built, but
this was pulled down in the
1950s. Today, the four-storey
buildings are given over to
hotels, shops and cafés and the
square is no longer a market-
place. Perhaps its most eye-
catching feature is the multitude
of pigeons that perch on the
pedestal supporting Leopoldo
de Almeida’s bronze equestrian
Bronze statue of King João I in Praça da Figueira statue of João I, erected in 1971.

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