Lisbon, Portugal Lisbon Postcards Venue

About Portugal

Portugal is located on the west side of the Iberian Peninsula, along the Atlantic East coast. In its entirety, Portugal occupies an area of about 92 000 km2, including the islands of Madeira and Azores, in the Atlantic. Portugal has a population of about 10 million people. The capital is Lisbon with a population of 1.5 million. Known for its sunny beaches, Porto wine, or typical Fado music, Portugal is a chosen destination for many holidaymakers, an ideal place for practicing water sports and playing golf, offering modern tourism facilities. A member-country of the European Union since 1986, it currently enjoys a steady economic growth. For centuries Portugal has kept this greatest treasure: a renowned reputation of hospitality that makes the country a haven of congeniality and safety. The history of this geographical area is rather long, spanning from the Palaeolithic period 7000 BC into the dawn of civilization. At the end of the Neolithic period, starting 1200 BC and for almost 2500 years, the Phoenicians, the Greeks, the Carthaginians, the Romans, the Visigoths and the Arabs successively invaded and settled in the Iberian Peninsula. The latter remained in control until the 11th century when Ferdinand, ruler of the kingdom of Leon and Castile, conquered much of the territory. An independent kingdom since 1143, Portugal established its continental frontiers in 1297 and is one of the oldest nations in Europe. Portugal became a major player in Europe at the age of the discoveries in the 15th century, when it developed and mastered the nautical science and discovered new lands, setting new trade routes to as far as India and Japan. The monarchy was overthrown in 1910 by republican forces. A stable democracy started in 1975. You may find here additional information about Portugal.

About Lisbon

Lisbon, with a population of about one million inhabitants (two million in the metropolitan area), is the capital, the chief port and the largest city of Portugal. It stands on the westernmost point of land of the European continent, where the Tagus river flows into the Atlantic Ocean. Its climate is probably the mildest of all European capitals. Lisbon is one of the most ancient cities in the western Europe. Probably inhabited since the Neolithic period, it was settled by Phoenicians in 1200 BC, who named it Alis Ubbo (calm port). They prospered for more than 600 years until it was occupied by Greeks and Carthaginians, then by the Romans in 205 BC, by the Barbarians in the 5th century AC, by the Arabs in 715 AC, till it was finally conquered by D. Afonso Henriques during the Cruzades in 1147, and declared capital of the Portuguese kingdom in 1252. The city name evolved with each new occupant until its present form Lisboa. Being already an important city when conquered in 1252, it continued growing its importance. In 1260 the King Afonso III transferred his court there from Coimbra. The University of Lisbon was founded in 1292. In the 15th and 16th centuries, the Age of the Discoveries, Lisbon became the centre of the world and the entrance of Europe to the Oceans. It is perhaps this long history of finding new lands and cultures that explains why Lisboans are, by nature and tradition, open to the new and very welcoming to visitors. From the 18th century, after the destruction of the city by the earthquake of 1755, Lisbon gradually took its modern lines as new, wider streets with rectilinear lines sprang up alongside the old quarters, to be joined in the 19th and 20th centuries by the Avenidas Novas (new avenues) and setting the shape of the city of today. More about Lisbon in the following link.