Page 80 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Portugal

EXPERIENCE Baixa and Avenida Lisbon’s historic centre

unfurling beneath the viewing
Did You Know?
gallery at the top of the lift
The Santa Justa is the
only remaining
2 " vertical street lift
ELEVADOR DE in the city.

SANTA JUSTA

 N6 ⌂ Rua de Santa Justa and Largo do Carmo
§ 213 613 000 # 7:30am–9:30pm daily (to 11pm May–Sep) A stunning panorama of the
Baixa’s grid pattern can be
Sandwiched between pale stone buildings, this seen from the platform.
arresting iron structure is a vertical link between
Lisbon’s lowest and highest neighbourhoods. A
platform at the top provides spectacular city views.
Also known as the Elevador do Carmo, this
Neo-Gothic lift was built at the turn of the
20th century by French architect Raoul
Mesnier du Ponsard, a student of Alexandre
Gustave Eiffel. Made of iron and embellished
with filigree, it is one of the more eccentric
features of the Baixa. The ticket office is
located at the foot of the lift, and from here
passengers can travel up and down inside
the tower in one of two smart wood-panelled
cabins with brass fittings; at the top is a
walkway linking the Baixa with Largo do
Carmo in the Bairro Alto, 32 m (105 ft)
above. The apex of the tower, reached via
an extremely tight spiral stairway, is given
over to a viewing gallery. This high vantage
point commands splendid views of Rossio,
the Baixa, the castle on the opposite hill, the
river and the nearby ruins
of the Carmo church. The Filigree motifs
fire that gutted the Chiado The ornate decorate the
district (p97) was extin- lift shaft and top- wrought-
guished close to the lift. level walkway iron shaft.
80

080-081_EW_Portugal.indd 80 20/09/2018 10:39

EW Catalogue template v3.0 – 12th July 2018
Fonts: Aptifer Sans LT Pro, Posterama Text, Soho Gothic
Pro, Soho Pro, ITC Caslon 224