Lisbon and Bethlehem

Country: Portugal
Date of Agreement: 2 November 1995
Name of Mayor: Joao Soares
Tel: 00351 1 3452951
Fax: 00351 1 3477643
Address: Praca do Municipio

Lisbon (Portuguese Lisboa; ancient Olisipo), is the capital and largest city of Portugal, and it is also the capital of Lisbon District, in western Portugal, on the Tagus River where the river expands before it enters the Atlantic Ocean. Lisbon is the center of the country's rail and highway network, and an international airport is nearby. The major industrial and commercial area of Portugal, Lisbon has an exceptionally fine harbor and is also the chief seaport. In Lisbon are shipbuilding yards, petroleum refineries, and plants producing chemicals, foodstuffs, hardware, paper, and textiles. Imports are mainly raw materials, and the chief exports include cork, canned fish, olive oil, resin, and wine.

The city is built on the terraced sides of a range of low hills overlooking the harbor. In the older section, the streets are narrow and crooked, but the newer section has straight, wide, tree-lined avenues, beautiful squares, and extensive public gardens. Lisbon is the seat of an archbishopric and contains many old churches, convents, and monasteries. It is also the site of the Sé, a Romanesque-Gothic cathedral built in the 12th century and partially ruined by successive earthquakes. A Hieronymite convent in the suburb of Belém was built in the 16th century to mark the discovery of a sea passage to India by the navigator Vasco da Gama. It contains the tombs of da Gama and the Portuguese poet Lues Vaz de Camões. Notable educational and cultural institutions in the city include several libraries, museums, and colleges and universities, the oldest of which is the University of Lisbon (1288).

Lisbon is believed to have been founded by the Phoenicians. It was occupied by the Romans in the 2nd century BC and by the Visigoths in the 5th century AD. The city was held by the Moors from 716 until it was recaptured by the Portuguese in 1147. Around 1260 Lisbon became the capital of the kingdom of Portugal, and following a period of colonial expansion, it became one of the wealthiest cities in Europe. It declined in importance during the period of Spanish rule (1580-1640). In 1755 an earthquake, followed by a tidal wave and a fire, destroyed much of the city. Portugal was a neutral nation during World War II, and Lisbon became both a haven and a port of embarkation for refugees from all over Europe. A 1988 fire, caused the worst disaster in the city's history since 1755, destroying the shopping district.