LISBOA
During the Neolithic the
region was inhabited by Iberian related peoples, who also lived in other
regions of Atlantic Europe at the time. They built religious monuments called
megaliths. Dolmens and Menhirs still survive in the countryside around the
city. The Indo-European Celts invaded after the first millennium BC and
intermarried with the Pre-Indo-European population, giving a rise to
Celtic-speaking local tribes such as the Cempsi.
Archaeological findings
show that a Phoenician influence existed in the place that, since 1200 B.C.,
leading some historians to the theory that a Phoenician trading post occupied
the centre of the city, in the southern slope of the Castle hill. The
magnificent harbour provided by the estuary of the river Tagus made it the
ideal spot for a settlement to provide foodstuffs to Phoenician ships
travelling to the tin islands (modern Isles of Scilly) and Cornwall. The new
city might have been named Allis Ubbo or "safe harbor" in
Phoenician, according to one of several theories for the origin of its name.
Another theory is that it took its name from the pre-Roman name of the River
Tagus, Lisso or Lucio. Besides sailing to the North, the
Phoenicians might also have probably taken advantage of the situation of the
settlement at the mouth of Iberia's largest river to trade with the inland
tribes for valuable metals. Other important local products were salt, salted
fish and the then widely famous Lusitanian horses. Recently, Phoenician remains
from the eighth century B.C. were found beneath the Middle Age Sé de Lisboa
(Lisbon See) or main Cathedral of the modern city. Most modern historians,
however, consider the idea of a Phoenician foundation of the city of Lisbon, as
unreal. At best Lisbon was an ancient autochthonous settlement (what the Romans
called an Oppidum) that maintained commercial relations with the Phoenicians,
which accounts for the presence of Phoenician pottery and other material
objects.
The Greeks knew Lisbon as
"Olissipo" and "Olissipona", a name they thought was
derived from Ulysses or also known as Odysseus for the Roman people, though
this was a folk etymology; according to an Ancient Greek myth, the hero Ulysses
founded the city after he left Troy and departed to the Atlantic to escape the
Greek coalition. If all of Odysseus's travels were in the Atlantic as Cailleux
argued, then this could mean that Odysseus founded the city coming from the
north, before trying to round Cape Malea, which Cailleux located at Cabo de São
Vicente (Cape of St. Vincent), in a south-east direction, to reach his home
land Ithaca, supposedly present Cadiz. However, the presence of Phoenicians
(even if occasional) is thought to predate any Greek presence in the area.
Later on the Greek name was corrupted in vulgar Latin to Olissipona.
During the Punic wars,
after the defeat of Hannibal (whose troops included members of the Conii) the
Romans decided to deprive Carthage in its most valuable possession, Hispania
(the name given by the Romans to the whole of the Iberian Peninsula). After the
defeat of the Carthaginians by Scipio Africanus in Eastern Hispania, the
pacification of the West was led by Consul Decimus Junius Brutus. He obtained
the alliance of Olissipo which sent men to fight alongside the Legions against
the Celtic tribes of the Northwest. In return, Olissipo was integrated in the
Empire under the name of Felicitas Julia, a Municipium Cives Romanorum. It was
granted self-rule over a territory going as far away as 50 kilometres (30
miles), exempted from taxes, and its citizens given the privileges of Roman
citizenship. It was in the newly created province of Lusitania capital was
Emerita Augusta. The attacks by the Lusitanians during the frequent rebellions
over the next couple of centuries weakened the city and a wall was built.
During the time of Augustus
the Romans built a great Theatre; the Cassian Baths underneath the current Rua
da Prata; Temples to Jupiter, Diana, Cybele, Tethys and Idae Phrygiae (an
uncommon cult from Asia Minor), besides temples to the Emperor; a large
necropolis under Praça da Figueira; a large Forum and other buildings such as
insulae (multi-storied apartment buildings) in the area between the modern
Castle hill and Downtown. Many of these ruins were first unearthed during the
middle Eighteenth century, when the recent discovery of Pompeii made Roman
Archeology fashionable among Europe's upper classes.
Economically Olissipo was
known for its garum, a sort of fish sauce highly prized by the elites of the
Empire and exported in Amphorae to Rome and other cities. Wine, salt and its
famously fast horses were also exported. The city came to be very prosperous
through suppression of piracy and technological advances, which allowed a boom
in the trade with the newly Roman Provinces of Britannia (particularly
Cornwall) and the Rhine, and through the introduction of Roman culture to the
tribes living by the river Tagus in the interior of Hispania. The city was
ruled by an oligarchical council dominated by two families, the Julii and the
Cassiae. Petitions are recorded addressed to the Governor of the province in
Emerita and to the Empreror Tiberius, such as one requesting help dealing with
"sea monsters" allegedly responsible for shipwrecks. Roman Lisbon's
most famous son was Sertorius who led a large rebellion against Dictator Sulla
early in the Roman Period. Among the majority of Latin speakers lived a large
minority of Greek traders and slaves. The city was connected by a broad road to
Western Hispania's two other large cities, Bracara Augusta in the province of
Tarraconensis (today's Portuguese Braga), and Emerita Augusta, the capital of
Lusitania (now Mérida in Spain).
Olissipo, like most great
cities in the Western Empire, was a centre for the dissemination of
Christianity. Its first attested Bishop was St. Potamius (c. 356), and there
were several martyrs killed by the pagans during the great persecutions;
Maxima, Verissimus and Julia are the most significant names.
At the end of the Roman
domain, Olissipo was one of the first Christian cities. It suffered invasions
from the Sarmatian Alans and the Germanic Vandals, who controlled the region
from 409 to 429. The Germanic Suebi, who established a kingdom in Gallaecia
(modern Galicia and northern Portugal), with capital in Bracara Augusta
(Braga), from 409 to 585, also controlled the region of Lisbon for long periods
of time. In 585 the Suebi kingdom was eventually included in the Germanic
Visigothic kingdom of Toledo, that comprised all of Hispania, and called Ulishbona.
In approximately 711 Lisbon
was taken by the Moors (it was called al-Išbūnah in Arabic الأشبونة), under whose rule the city
flourished. The Moors, who were Muslims from North Africa and the Middle East,
built many mosques and houses as well as a new city wall, currently named the Cerca
Moura. The city kept a diverse population including Christians, Berbers,
Arabs, Jews and Saqalibas.
Arabic was forced on the
Christians as the official language. Mozarabic was the mother language spoken
by the Christian population. Islam was the official religion practiced by the
Arabs and Muladi (muwallad), the Christians could keep their religion but under
heavy Dhimmi status and were forced to pay the jizyah.
The Moorish influence is
still present in Alfama, the old part of Lisbon that survived the 1755 Lisbon
earthquake. Many placenames are derived from Arabic; the Alfama, the oldest
existing district of Lisbon, for example, is derived from the Arabic
"al-hamma".
For a brief time during the
Taifa period Lisbon was the center town in the Regulo Eslavo of the Taifa of
Badajoz while ruled by Sabur al-Saqlabi (Sabur the Slav) son of Sabur al-Jatib
, a Slav that had been at the service of al-Hakam II.
In 1147, as part of the
Reconquista, a group of combined French, English, German, and Portuguese
knights, led by Afonso I of Portugal, sieged and reconquered Lisbon. Lisbon was
now back in Christian hands.
The reconquest of Portugal
and re-establishment of Christianity is one of the most significant events in
Lisbon's history; although it is known that there was a bishop in the town that
was killed by the crusades and that the population was praying to the Virgin
Mary when afflicted with plague, which indicates that the Mozarab population
followed the Mozarabic rite. Arabic lost its place in everyday life. Any
remaining Muslim population were gradually converted to Roman Catholicism, or
expelled, and the mosques were turned back into churches.
It received its first Foral
in 1179, and became the capital city of Portugal in 1255 due to its central
location in the new Portuguese territory.
During the last centuries
of the Middle Ages, the city expanded substantially and became an important
trading post with both northern Europe and Mediterranean cities.
A university school at
Lisbon was originally founded in 1290 by Dinis I of Portugal as Estudo Geral
(General Study) (today the University of Coimbra), being transferred several
times to Coimbra where it was installed definitively in the 16th century. The
city refounded its own university in 1911 after centuries of inactivity in
Lisbon, incorporating reformed former colleges and other non-university higher
education schools of the city (such as the Escola Politécnica). Today
there are 3 public universities in the city (University of Lisbon, Technical
University of Lisbon and New University of Lisbon) and a public university
institute (ISCTE) - see list of universities in Portugal.
Most of the Portuguese
expeditions of the age of discovery left from Lisbon during the XV to XVII
centuries, including Vasco da Gama's departure to India in 1497.
The 16th century marks the
golden age for Lisbon. The city became the European hub of commerce with the
Far East, while gold from Brazil also flooded into the city.
The 1640 restoration revolt
takes place in Lisbon (see Philip III of Portugal).
On 26 January 1531 the city
was hit by an earthquake which killed thousands.
On 1 November 1755 Lisbon
was destroyed by another earthquake, which killed between 60,000 and 90,000
people and destroyed eighty-five percent of the city . Voltaire wrote a long
poem, "Poême sur le désastre de Lisbonne", shortly afterwards, and
mentioned the earthquake in his 1759 novel Candide (indeed, many argue
that this critique of optimism was inspired by that earthquake). Oliver Wendell
Holmes, Sr. also mentions it in his 1857 poem, The Deacon's Masterpiece, or
The Wonderful One-Hoss Shay.
After the 1755 earthquake,
the city was rebuilt largely according to the plans of Sebastião José de
Carvalho e Melo, the Marques of Pombal; hence the designation of the lower town
as Baixa Pombalina (Pombaline Downtown). Instead of rebuilding the
medieval town, Pombal decided to demolish the remains of the arthquakeand
rebuild the downtown in accordance with modern urban rules. In the first years of
the 19th century, Portugal was invaded by the troops of Napoléon Bonaparte and
Queen Maria I and Prince-Regent João (future John VI) temporarily fled to
Brazil. Considerable property was pillaged by the invaders. The city felt the
full force of the Portuguese liberal upheavals, beginning its tradition of
cafés and theatres. In 1879 the Avenida da Liberdade was opened,
replacing a previous public garden.
Lisbon was the centre of
the republican coup of October 5, 1910 which instated the Portuguese Republic.
Previously, it was also the stage of the regicide of Carlos I of Portugal
(1908).
During World War II Lisbon
was one of the very few neutral, open European Atlantic ports, a major gateway
for refugees to the U.S. and a spy nest.
In 1974, Lisbon was the
central destination point of the Carnation Revolution maneuvers, the end of the
Portuguese Corporative Regime (Estado Novo).
In 1988, a fire near the
historical centre of Chiado greatly disrupted normal life in the area for about
10 years.
In 1994, Lisbon was the
European Capital of Culture.
Expo '98 was held in
Lisbon. The timing was intended to commemorate the 500th anniversary of Vasco
da Gama's sea voyage to India.
The Lisbon Agenda was a
European Union agreement on measures to revitalize the EU economy, signed in
Lisbon in March 2000.
Every March the city hosts
the world-famous Lisbon Half Marathon, one of the most attended events of its
kind in the world.
It regularly hosts
countless other international events including various NATO, European Union and
other summits.
In January 2006 and 2007,
Lisbon was the starting city of the Dakar Rally.
Rock in Rio was held in
Lisbon twice, hosting concerts of many high profile singers and bands, such as
Anastacia, Metallica, Shakira, Guns N' Roses, Roger Waters, Britney Spears and
many more.
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