Lisbon
Portugal's capital, a city of seven hills above the Tagus
Lisbon tumbles down seven hills toward the broad estuary of the Tagus, its pastel houses, tiled facades, and rattling yellow trams catching the famously clear Atlantic light. Castle walls crown the heights, the riverside opens onto vast plazas, and from the miradouros — the hilltop viewpoints — the whole tiled city spreads below toward the water. The capital of Portugal and one of the oldest cities in Europe, Lisbon holds some three million people in its metropolitan area and a maritime history that once reached around the globe.
The city is built across a series of low, steep hills on the north bank of the Tagus River where it widens into a great natural harbor before meeting the Atlantic. Elevation rises from sea level to around 45 metres in the center and higher on the surrounding hills, the slopes so steep that funiculars and elevators help residents climb them. The mild Mediterranean-Atlantic climate brings warm, dry summers and gentle, rainy winters, and the river and ocean shape the city's light and air.
Settled by Phoenicians and ruled by Romans and Moors before its Christian reconquest in 1147, Lisbon became the launching point of Portugal's Age of Discovery, sending Vasco da Gama and others to open sea routes to India and Brazil. A catastrophic earthquake and tsunami leveled much of the city in 1755, prompting one of Europe's first planned reconstructions. Today Lisbon is Portugal's capital and largest city, a hub of culture, technology, and tourism enjoying a vivid revival.