Praça do Comércio
لشبونة
Praça do Comércio is the city's great square on the River Tagus. It was rebuilt after the 1755 earthquake, where the royal palace once stood.
From the king's palace to the square
In the early 1500s King Manuel I built his palace here, on the riverbank. For more than two centuries this was the square of power.
The 1755 earthquake, the wave from the river and the fire destroyed it. The Marquis of Pombal had it redesigned by the architect Eugénio dos Santos.
What to look at
In the centre stands the bronze statue of King José I, by the sculptor Joaquim Machado de Castro. It was unveiled in 1775 and faces the river.
On the north side opens the Rua Augusta Arch, finished only in 1873. On top of the arch stand statues of great Portuguese figures. Among them are Vasco da Gama and the Marquis of Pombal.
A city rebuilt in a hurry
After the earthquake the city had to be rebuilt quickly and well. The buildings of the Baixa, the low town, were made with parts prepared in advance, almost in series.
The façades are plain and all alike. The streets are straight and cross at right angles, like the lines on squared paper.
The port and the monument
Ships left this port for Africa, Asia and the Americas. Spices and riches came back. But many enslaved people also passed through here: a painful page in the city's history.
In 1910 the square was declared a national monument. Many people still call it by its old name, Terreiro do Paço, the palace yard.
