Few days Rests in Lisbon

The Lisbon region featuring its sports and cultural diversity is a perfect holiday place to go for va-
cationers seeking variety. Be it concerts, theatre, museums, nightlife, history, gastronomy
or outdoor leisure sports such as golf and surfing - the Lisbon region leaves no wish unfulfilled.

Found at the mouth from the Tagus River ("Rio Tejo") and presumably founded by the
Phoenicians around 1200 B.C. as being a trading post, Lisbon fascinates visitors having its rich
cultural and historical heritage and is always worth a weekend city break. In their eventful
history it's witnessed many invaders like the Greeks, Carthaginians, Romans, Alans,
Vandals, Suebi, Visigoths and Moors. In 1147, the 400 years long moorish domination of
Lisbon was ended when crusaders led by Alfonso I of Portugal reconquered Lisbon during
the Christian Reconquista.

All rulers left their cultural imprints on the city, thereby making Lisbon an exciting and
unique combination of one of the most different cultural and architectural influences with Romanesque,
Gothic, Manueline, Baroque and Traditional Portuguese architecture. Through the so-called
"Portuguese Ages of Discovery" between the 15th and 17th century Lisbon became strategi-
cally essential as starting place for your Portuguese quest for Africa, India, china and taiwan
and Brazil. The legendary Portuguese seafarer Vasco da Gama left Lisbon in 1497 to disco-
ver the sea option to India.

Although Lisbon was largely destroyed by a disastrous earthquake in 1755 and completely
rebuilt in contemporary architectural style afterwards, many historical monuments have
remained untouched from this nature catastrophe and so are proof the cultural and historical
diversity of this seaport. Of these historical sites of great interest you see Lisbon Castle/
Castle of Sao Jorge ("Castelo de Sao Jorge") integrated a citadel-like style and Lisbon Cathe-
dral ("Santa Maria Maior de Lisboa" or "Se de Lisboa") built in the 12th and 13th century
in Late Romanesque style, only to mention a couple of. The Belem Tower ("Torre de Belem")
with its Portuguese Late Gothic, Manueline and Renessaince Style and the Jeronimos
Monastery ("Mosteiro dos Jeronimos") featuring its Manueline, Plateresco, Renaissance and
Gothic style were built in the 16th century and declared World Heritage Sites by the
UNESCO in 1983.



At the outset of the 19th century Lisbon was invaded and pillaged by the army of Napoleon Bonaparte. In 1910 the 1st Portuguese Republic was declared. In 1998 Lisbon hosted the globe Exhibition Expo ?98.

Lovers of art will enjoy the different museums in Lisbon like the "Museo do Azulejo" (Museum
of Portuguese-style Tile Mosaics), the "Oceanario de Lisboa" (Lisbon Oceanarium) as well as the
"Museo Nacional de Arte Antiga" (National Museum of Ancient Art). Opera lovers will appre-
ciate the rich cultural agenda with the "Teatro Nacional de Sao Carlos". Tourists may also love
various cafes and restaurants along with the numerous shopping possibilities such as the Vasco
da Gama Retail center and Amoreiras Retail center. Don?t miss a fado music performance
within the Alfama, Lisbon?s oldest quarter.

The population transport system in Lisbon is quite well-developed and allows fast and simple acces
towards the surrounding Lisbon region with Sintra, the Estoril Coast as well as the Setubal peninsula.
Sintra and the Estoril Coast are located in the Ribatejo region north with the Tagus estuary
(and so the name "Ribatejo" which suggests "riba do Tejo" ("on, or beyond, financial institutions in the
Tagus")). The Estoril Coast using its beaches and holiday resorts offers a large variety of
pleasurable activities like tennis, wandering, swimming or sailing and is your best option
for beach holidays. The top density of courses on the Estoril Coast also makes it a pa-
radise for golf players. Surfers will favour surfing hotspots like Carcavelos and Ericeira.

Another daytrip destination simple to reach from Lisbon is Sintra. Its historic monuments such
as the 19th century Pena National Palace (Palacio Nacional de Pena), the 9th and 10th century
Castle in the Moors (Castelo dos Mouros) along with the 15th and 16th century Sintra National Palace
(Palacio Nacional de Sintra) along with the Sintra-Cascais National Park are always worth visiting.
Sintra was declared some sort of Heritage Site by the UNESCO in 1995.

The Setubal peninsula (also known as "Costa Azul" ("Blue Coast")) is found the Alentejo region
south in the Tagus estuary (hence the name "Alentejo" this means "alem do Tejo" ("beyond
the Tagus")). It is famous for the Arrabida National Park. The customers will be impressed using its
unique Mediterranean vegetation untouched by touristic development and with the unspoilt
wildlife and can anticipate seeing storks, flamingos and dolphins, flamingos. Dolphin watching
is often a major tourist attraction. The type protection area invites the traveller to varied leisure
time activities including river cruises, walking, cycling, riding horses, heat ballooning,
diving and golf.

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