Lisbon

Lisbon is the capital of Portugal, on the hills above the wide estuary of the Tagus River near the Atlantic. Fado, a song of longing sung to the Portuguese guitar, grew up in its old quarters and is on the UNESCO list of intangible heritage.

Lisbon was a Phoenician and Roman port and later a Moorish town, until Afonso Henriques took it in the 12th century and it became the capital of Portugal. In the Age of Discovery ships left from its river for Africa, India and Brazil, and Vasco da Gama sailed from Belém in the late 15th century to open the sea route to India. Manuel I paid for new churches and monasteries in the Manueline style with the wealth of the spice trade. After the earthquake of 1755 the Marquis of Pombal rebuilt the lower town, the Baixa, on a grid of straight streets with stone buildings designed to resist shaking.

EDP, the electricity company, has its head office in Lisbon, and Jerónimo Martins, also based in the city, runs the Pingo Doce supermarkets. Cork from the oak forests of the Alentejo is shipped from the port of Lisbon.

The Jerónimos Monastery and the Belém Tower, carved with ropes, shells and armillary spheres in the Manueline style, were added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1983. Pastéis de nata, custard tarts in flaky pastry, have been baked near the monastery since the 19th century from a recipe of its monks. Alfama, the oldest district, climbs the hill below the Moorish castle in a maze of stairs and alleys. Tram 28 rattles through the old quarters in yellow wooden cars.