Lisbon facts

It is a lift. The Santa Justa Lift connects the lower streets of the Baixa with the higher Carmo Square. Since its construction, the Lift has become a tourist attraction in Lisbon. Among the urban lifts in the city, Santa Justa is the only remaining vertical one.

Lisbon. Built in 1515 as a fortress to guard the entrance to Lisbon's harbor, the Belem Tower was the starting point for many of the voyages of discovery, and for the sailors it was the last sight of their homeland. It is a monument to Portugal's Age of Discovery, often serving as a symbol of the country, and UNESCO has listed it as a World Heritage monument. Built in the Manueline style, it incorporates many stonework motifs of the Discoveries, sculptures depicting historical figures.

It was destroyed by earthquake. The convent was ruined in the 1755 Great Lisbon Earthquake, which destroyed the city, killed possibly 100.000 of its inhabitants and disrupted the colonial ambitions of Portugal. The church was left unrestored to remind the tragedy.

Tagus. The Tagus is the longest river in the Iberian Peninsula.