ROSSIO

Description

Essentials about the Rossio in brief

The Rossio, together with Praça da Figueira and Praça do Comércio, is one of the three large and important squares in downtown Lisbon. It is located in the Baixa (Lower Town) and has been the center of the Portuguese capital since the times of the Middle Ages. Once the scene of numerous celebrations and revolutions, the Rossio is now primarily a meeting place for locals and tourists alike. Due to its important metro station and the railroad terminus located on the square, the Rossio is also an important transportation hub.

The name “Rossio”

Officially, the Rossio is called “Praça de D. Pedro IV”. A statue in the center of the square commemorates the Portuguese King Pedro IV, who later became Brazilian Emperor Pedro I, who gave the square its name. In the vernacular, however, the name “Rossio” has long prevailed. The name, which can be translated from Old Portuguese roughly as “field without inhabitants,” dates back to the Middle Ages.

The history of the Rossio

The Rossio from the 13th to the 15th century

An important importance came to the Rossio at the earliest from about the 13th and 14th centuries. At that time Lisbon expanded to the banks of the Tagus River, more and more inhabitants now lived around the mountain of São Jorge Castle. From the 13th century, a convent of the Dominican Order was located on the Rossio. Around 1450, the Portuguese King Afonso V had a guesthouse built on the northern side of the Rossio. In 1492, King João II ordered the construction of one of the most important civil and charitable buildings in old Lisbon, the Royal Hospital of All Saints. Construction of the hospital was completed in 1504 under the reign of Manuel I, and the building now encompassed the entire eastern side of the square.

The Rossio in the 16th and 17th centuries

From the 16th century, the Rossio was also the place where the Inquisition pronounced and executed sentences. In the northeast corner of the square, since the 17th century, was the Palácio das Almadas, which gained notoriety mainly as a meeting place for the Portuguese nobility to plan a resistance against Spanish rule. Due to the subsequent Restoration War between Portugal and Spain, the building is also called “Palácio da Independência” (Palace of Independence).

The destruction of the Rossio during the Great Earthquake

The Great Lisbon Earthquake of 1755 destroyed much of downtown Lisbon. Almost all the buildings on the Rossio were also destroyed, with the exception of the Palace of Independence. The then Prime Minister Sebastião José de Carvalho e Mello, later Marquês de Pombal, led Lisbon’s reconstruction program and had the Baixa, which was in ruins, completely rebuilt. The reconstruction of the Rossio was undertaken by the architects Eugénios dos Santos and Carlos Mardel in the second half of the 18th century, both representing the style of Pombalinism present today.

The reconstruction of the Rossio

From the time of the Pombaline reconstruction comes, among other things, the flag arch Arco do Bandeira, a large archway with baroque pediment that connects the Rossio with Rua dos Sapateiros. The chessboard pattern of the rebuilt downtown gave the Rossio a direct connection to the other important downtown square, Praça do Comércio, on the banks of the Tagus River, through Rua Augusta and Rua Áurea. Of the destroyed Dominican monastery, only the church was rebuilt. The baroque-style Igreja São Domingos is located to the northeast of the square.

The Teatro Nacional D. Maria II

After the outbreak of a great fire in 1836, the Palácio das Almadas was also destroyed. Through a large donation from the Portuguese writer and poet Almeida Garrett, it was decided to build a theater in its place. The Teatro Nacional D. Maria II, subsequently built in the 1840s, was designed by the Italian Fortunato Lodi in the neoclassical style. A statue of the Portuguese playwright Gil Vicente is still emblazoned on the gable of the theater. It is ironic that the Inquisition, previously located on the site, had censored some of Vicente’s plays in the 16th century.

The Mosaic, the Fountain and the Statue of the King

In the 19th century, the Rossio received a typical Portuguese floor mosaic of gray and white paving stones laid in waves. Two French fountains with bronze sculptures were also installed. In 1874, the statue of Portuguese King Pedro IV was erected in the square. At the foot of the column are allegories of justice, courage, modesty and wisdom. At the same time, the square was renamed to its current name, but it was largely ignored by the population.

Rossio Station

Between 1886 and 1887, the Rossio received another building that still characterizes it today, Rossio Station. José Luís Monteiro designed the new station in neo-Manueline style for the line to Sintra, where the royal summer palace Palácio Nacional da Pena was located, among other things.

The Rossio today

Nowadays the Rossio is the most important square for Lisboners in the heart of their city. It is not only the main traffic hub in the center of the Portuguese capital, but also a business center surrounded by many small cafes, bars and stores. If you want to immerse yourself in the daily life of the locals, it is best to sit down in one of the bars or cafés with a galão or a ginginja cherry liqueur and watch the colorful and sometimes hectic hustle and bustle in the square.