Praça do Comércio

The Praça do Comércio [ pɾasɐ you kumɛɾsiu ] (Eng. place of trade ) is close to Rossio and Praça da Figueira to the three main squares in the Pombaline, the. Due to the earthquake of 1755 newly built urban area of the Portuguese capital Lisbon Located close to the capital Tagus River, the place is still under its old name, Terreiro do Paço [ tɨ'ʁeiɾu you ' pasu ] to about German palace grounds, known, as to the devastating earthquake of 1755, the Paço da Ribeira, the royal bank castle, there was. After the earthquake, the site received a completely new form as part of the led by the Marquis of Pombal urban transformation. At the southeastern end of the square is the Tagus ferry terminal Terreiro do Paço ( officially Estação do Sul e Sueste ) and the Metro Station Terreiro do Paço.

History

The urban development on the banks of the Tagus received by the decision of the Portuguese King Manuel I a new palace on the banks to build the Paço da Ribeira, a significant pulse. This 1511 finished palace, which served as the residence of the Portuguese kings over 200 years, was framed by the great Lisbon harbor, shipping companies, shipyards, the Casa da Índia and other administrative buildings, the relationship between Portugal and its numerous colonies in Africa, the Americas and Asia regulated.

On November 1, 1755, a devastating earthquake shook the Portuguese capital. The effects were also felt in North Africa and to Finland. In Lisbon the earthquake called for a high number of casualties, the Royal Palace and a large part of the Lisbon lower town were destroyed by the ensuing tsunami, and a huge fire. Sebastião José de Carvalho e Mello, Marquis of Pombal and at the same time Prime Minister during the reign of José I, then decided on a large, urban rehabilitation and reconstruction program. The Praça do Comércio now received a new rectangular shape. The formerly standing there shore palace was not rebuilt. The Praça do Comércio now formed the entrance to Pombaline, the newly built downtown between Tagus, Rua Augusta and Praça da Figueira or Rossio.

The buildings around the 170 times 170 meter course was designed by the Portuguese architect Eugénio dos Santos in the form of a rectangular U, which opens to the Tagus. The arcaded, four-storey building have two wings that end in two large towers. Thus the quoted Santos no longer existing shore palace to these should be retained in the urban architecture. His designs have been almost completely realized only some decorative elements were changed and the eastern tower and the arches to Rua not completed until August 1875.

The place was with his redesign a new name, Praça do Comércio to German commercial space to illustrate as well as the new feature of the place. The buildings around the Praça do Comércio took on numerous offices for the customs and port authority, a sign of economic strength Lisbon. Main component of the entire ensemble was the equestrian statue of José I, which was designed in 1775 by the artist Joaquim Machado de Castro.

The Rua Augusta, a link between the Rossio and Praça do Comércio, Santos opened by a colossal triumphal arch, the da Rua Augusta is generally known as Arco. This designed by Veríssimo da Costa archway has a large clock and several allegories of the civic virtues of honor, ingenuity and courage, as well as statues of the Celtiberian leader Viriathus, Nuno Álvares Pereira of the National Hero, the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama and the Marquis of Pombal.

On 1 February 1908, the Praça do Comércio was the scene of the murder of Carlos of Portugal, the penultimate monarch, by the Republicans. Carlos happened in a carriage to the place in which the King and heir to the throne, his son Luís Filipe traveled. After two men of the later Republican Party, Alfredo Costa and Manuel Buica, shots duties, the king died immediately from the effects of the attack, his son died 20 minutes later from his injuries. The younger son of King Emanuel II ascended as the last monarch to the Portuguese throne.

During the Carnation Revolution in 1974, the Movimento the forcas Armadas used the place as among other important meeting and parade ground at the overthrow of the dictatorship of Marcelo Caetano. Until the nineties, the Praça do Comércio served as a car park, today there exists a rigid no-parking zone, so the place was transformed into a popular meeting space.