Guided Architectural and Historical Walk, Lisbon

Discover the history of Lisbon through the structures that make it up on this guided architectural walk that will take you from the past to the present to the future in the city's buildings. After meeting your guide at a designated point, you'll walk through different neighborhoods, ranging from the historic to the modern. You'll learn about Lisbon before and after the massive 1755 earthquake, the key figures who transformed the city, and the eras that have shaped Europe's adaptable second-oldest city.  

You'll begin this half-day excursion by meeting your guide at a designated spot in Lisbon's center. Lisbon is one of the oldest cities in the world and is the second-oldest in Europe (behind Athens), so this journey will take you across time to explore the different influences and eras written on the capital's buildings. As you walk through the city, your guide will inform you about the elements that have shaped Lisbon, like the 1755 earthquake that leveled the city, forcing it to be rebuilt by the Marquis of Pombal. 

You'll continue to the 1940s, exploring public works projects like post offices and schools built during the country's 41-year-long dictatorship from 1933 to 1974. These buildings, done in a nostalgic style harkening back to the glory days of the empire, were crucial to the state's promotion of a particular type of national image. You'll end in the future, visiting the Expo 98 area, which hosted the World's Fair and has since been converted into a modern urban site, as you learn about contemporary Portuguese architects and architecture and what the future may hold for this city.