LISBON, Portugal, the capital and prin cipal seaport, beautifully situated on the right bank of the Tagus, where the river expands itself out into a lake, about nine miles above its mouth. It is built on a succession of hills, rising from the quays in the form of an amphi theatre. The streets of the older parts, more especially in the east, are steep, narrow, crooked, badly paved and dirty; the houses, with a few exceptions, are old-fashioned and mean. The modern portion, however, which lies on even ground, in the valley between the Monte do Castello on the east and the hills of San Fran cisco and Do Carmo on the west, consists of several parallel streets crossed by others at right angles, and is regular, well built, clean, traversed by street railways, electrically lighted and provided with a telephone service. Of these the D'Ouro (Gold), Do Prato (Silver), D'Augusta, Do Chiado (Cloth) streets extend about one-half mile, north to south, having at their southern extremity the Praea do Corn mercio, a large and handsome square, sur rounded on three sides by the naval arsenal, the exchange, custom-house and other public build ings, and having the Tagus on the south. At the northern extremity of these streets are the Praca da Figueira, a picturesque square, used as a public market, and a handsome square called the Rocio or Praca de Dom Pedro IV, with a fine bronze statue of Dom Pedro IV, surmounting a tall marble column. To the northwest extends, for nearly a mile, a broad avenue, the Avenida da Liberdade, lined with handsome houses and planted with shrubs, etc. Besides this the finest open spaces are the Estrella Gardens, the Botanic Garden, the Praca do Principe Real and that of Pedro de Alcantara. The western quarter, called Buenos Aires, is airy and pleasant, and here foreigners chiefly reside. The town of Belem, on the west, beyond the river Alcantara, forms a sort of suburb to Lisbon, and has electric car connec tions. It has a well-known tower, forming one of the defenses of the harbor.
The principal residence is the Ajuda Palace, built of white marble on the summit of a hill. The castle of Saint George is remarkable for the beauty of its situation. Other noteworthy buildings are the cathedral, once a Moorish mosque, on the slope of the Castle Hill, on the east; die church do CornIto de Jesus, sur mounted by a splendid dome; the church of the Martyrs, erected on the spot where Alphonso I mounted the walls of the city and rescued it from the Moors ; the church of Saint Vincent, a Renaissance building of noble proportions, and the burial place of kings ; the handsome church of Santa Engracia; the magnificent church and monastery of Belem, in which Vasco da Gama and the poet Camoes are buried, and the church of San Roque. The numerous con
vents which crown the hills, and appear like palaces and fortresses, are for the most part massive and imposing structures. But unques tionably the most remarkable specimen of architecture is the aqueduct which conveys water to the city from springs rising near the village of Bellas, about six miles distant. It is partly conducted underground, but on ap proaching Lisbon it crosses the deep valley of Alcantara, which is spanned for nearly 2,500 feet by a bridge of 30 arches, the loftiest of which is 240 feet high and 110 feet wide. An additional supply is brought in by another series of works from a distance of 18 miles. The scientific and literary institutions comprise the Royal Academy of Sciences, founded in the latter part of the 18th century; the well equipped Polytechnic 'School, with a museum, botanic garden and observatory; an academy of medicine and surgery; institute of agriculture and veterinary medicine; Marine Academy; Military College, School of Music, National Library, containing about 400,000 volumes, and that of the Academy of Sciences, numbering about 90,000 volumes; the Schools of Vicente de Fora; School of Drawing and Architecture. The harbor, or rather the roadstead, is one of the finest in the world, and the quays and graving docks, which extend for miles along the bank of the river, are elegant and com modious. The exports consist chiefly of wine, oil, fruit, cork, fish, onions and other vegetables and salt; and the principal imports are grain, silk, linen, cotton and woolen cloths, iron, steel, hardware, dried fish, petroleum, colonial prod uce and coals. The manufactures include vari ous textile goods, tobacco, paper, chemicals and soap; there are also sugar refineries, iron foundries and potteries.
Lisbon was anciently called Olisipo. Suc cessively in the hands of the Phoenicians, Car thaginians and Romans, it was called Felicitas Julia by the last-named. It was captured by the Moors in 716, and remained in their pos session till 1147. Vasco da Gama sailed from Lisbon on his famous expedition of 1497. Un der the Spanish occupation from 1580-1640 the city greatly declined. In 1755 it was visited by the historic and terrible earthquake, which threw down a considerable portion of the city and destroyed above 30,000 of its inhabitants. It was taken by the French in 1807, but resisted an attack by Massena in 1809. Pop. about 435,359.