Once upon a time – a brief Lisbon history lesson.

During our three-month journey of what was once the Iberian Peninsula (now Spain and Portugal), we unexpectedly found ourselves tracing the region’s proud history back through the time.. Through architecture, food, and culture we began to imagine the crusading knights and Moorish empires that once walked these streets. It’s only fitting that we end this leg of our journey in the oldest city yet.

Lisbon History is One of Unmeasurable Power and Calamity

Lisbon is the oldest city in Western Europe, predating London, Paris and Rome by centuries… Earliest artifacts date to 1200BC as a Phoenician trading post and recurrent battlefield with Carthaginians and Greeks. Legend states the city was founded and named Olissopo or “enchanting port” by Ulysses.

The city was under Roman rule by 205BC and was listed as the municipium of Felicitas Julia Olissipo by Julius Ceasar around 30BC. As the Roman Empire disintegrated, Barbarian, then German tribes controlled the region between around 400AD to 700AD..

In 711, the ruling German Visigoths were conquered by Muslim Moors from Northern Africa, who remained in control for over 400 years.. In 1147, invading Crusaders from the northern Kingdom of Portugal pushed the Moors out during the Christian Reconquista, defining Portugal’s geographic boundaries much as they remain today.. In 1255, Lisbon became the capital of Portugal, over 200 years before the Kingdom of Spain was founded in 1469..

In the 15th century, as a seaport for newly discovered Portuguese colonies in the Atlantic, Africa, the Americas and Asia, Lisbon became an incredibly wealthy city. With Vasco de Gama’s discovery of a trade route to India, Lisbon was the most prosperous trading center in the world.

However, The Earthquake of 1775, followed by a tsunami and days of fires, destroyed up to eighty-five percent of the city’s buildings, including the royal palace and many churches. The incredible calamity shifted Lisbon’s focus from colonialism to re-building…  In complete disrepair, city leaders cleared the wreckage and rebuilt Lisbon using principles of modern urban design, re-defining the face of the city as it remains today…