Text and Photos
By Shari Benyousky
Guest Columnist

Note – This is part 2 of travels in Europe starting with Lisbon during June and July of 2024. Part 1 discussed the trip to Lisbon and part 2 discusses getting to know the city.

In the 15th and 16th centuries Lisbon, Portugal, thrived as the hub of a vast global maritime superpower. However, a horrific event nearly destroyed the city in 1755. We’ll delve into that shortly. Until then, Portugal was awash in gold and jewels brought back from its explorations and colonies. If you visit Lisbon today, you’ll find remnants of that treasure, but you’ll find more of another kind of gold, one that won’t cost you much.

Mini Cream Pies For Breakfast?

Lisbon may not have as much wealth as it once did, but it still swims in golden custards, called pasteis de nata, or as my friend Vicky who traveled here last year called them accurately, “Those little mini sugar cream pies.” Our Airbnb host left us two with a bottle of cinnamon.

Pasteis are everywhere. The local grocery has them for 1.30 € (about $1.40) each. Every street-corner café offers them. I tried several varieties before a walking tour guide showed us where to find the absolute best ones at Manteigaria’s in the fancy area of Lisbon named Chiado. Fittingly, manteiga means butter, and these little custards that melt in your mouth have crisp crusts made of butter.

We got into a fast-moving line with our guide and soon sat at a little table on the street with three pasteis sprinkled with powdered sugar and cinnamon. You can also buy them in packs of six to go. I did. As we ate, our guide told us about the rest of the gold.

What Destroyed Lisbon In 1755?

The golden custards taste spectacular, but where did all that real gold and power go?

Well, at 9:40 a.m. in 1755 on one of the most important holidays of the year, Nov. 1 or All-Saints Day, much of Lisbon gathered in some church or cathedral at first mass to pray. Every candle flickered simultaneously as the Azores-Gibraltar plates shifted deep underground, followed by an enormous earthquake (between 8.5 – 9.2). Hundreds in the Gothic Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel (Largo de Carmo) immediately died when the roof collapsed. Thousands elsewhere died immediately too. Then the seas of candles toppled and lit fires everywhere.

Some unfortunates who avoided dying from the earthquake or the fires because they were down on the shore of the River Taga noticed the water in the bay had been sucked out to sea. Temptingly, the mud lay bare with shipwrecks. Those who chose to investigate drowned when an hour later a tsunami wave 20 feet high rushed back into the void submerging the lower part of Lisbon.

One 1755 contemporary said there were in the lower part of the city no longer “signs of streets, lanes, or squares.” Of the 20k houses in Lisbon at the time, hardly 3k were habitable. The fires burned for six days. Between the earthquake, the fires, and the tsunami, between 30k-60k people died that day, effectively changing Lisbon forever.

The Best Tour Guide In Lisbon

We finished our golden pasteis with Best Tour Guide in Lisbon. His name is Nelson Mingacho, a local author. You can find his Airbnb Experience link here or see his pictures on Instagram here: your_guide_in_portugal. Nelson showed us where the big tragedies occurred, but he also showed us where to gather with friends to party.

After the custards, he pointed at A Ginjinha in Rossio Square. “Gathering here is the beginning of every party for me and my friends. Every adventure.” He gestured over at the tiny streetside bar serving a crowd of partially tipsy people the local sour cherry liquor. “Well,” he amended. “It could be the end of the party too. Every time is a good time for Ginjinha.”

The Cursed Church

Nelson led us across Rossio Square to an imposing church. “We call this a cursed church.” Nelson meant the Church of St. Dominic. Once all national and royal weddings and funerals were held here, but it held a sinister past too. In April of 1506 churchgoers attacked and killed some in the congregation suspected of being “Jews” instead of Cristãos-Novos (new or converted Jews). The violence escalated into an antisemitic riot in which some 4,000 Cristãos-Novos were burned at the stake in an Inquisition.

That isn’t the only reason the Portuguese call the church cursed. The church was also nearly destroyed in the 1755 earthquake and tsunami. But what survived had more to endure. “The church also suffers fire about once a century.” Nelson pointed up at the great columns holding the roof. The church most recently was nearly destroyed by a great fire in 1959. The renovations allowed the church to re-open in 1994, but this time they chose to leave many signs of the fire as reminders. We saw charred wooden beams and windows as we listened to the angelic singing.

Nelson had not forgotten about the Inquisition and, as we left, he pointed out a wall with a public apology for the murders signed by the Patriarch of Lisbon next to an olive tree. “We must do what things are right for us and the universe,” he said slowly. “We must believe that.”

The 1974 Revolution

“Speaking of what’s right.” Nelson walked us back to where we began in front of Largo de Carmo (Our Lady of Mount Carmel, the roofless church). He pointed up at a giant picture of a crowd on the wall. Nelson continued, “Largo was the site of another major event in Lisbon — the 1974 Revolution. On that day, the people of Lisbon peacefully overthrew the Authoritarian Dictator Salazar.”

Sometimes, the Revolution is known as the Carnation Revolution as those in the street offered carnation flowers to soldiers and placed them in rifle and cannon barrels. “Like this,” Nelson mimed tucking in a flower stem with his hand. April 25 is a national holiday, and numerous places are named after it including the vital and impressive April 25th Bridge.

TIP – Getting around Lisbon is cheap and simple with public transportation including metros and buses. However, you can also opt for a cheap ride. The local equivalent of Uber is called Bolt. You’ll find the app on your phone. A ride across town costs around 5€.

Eat The Fresh Fish

Learning about so much history made us hungry, so Nelson pointed out his favorite Lisbon foods from bifanas (Lisbon’s answer to hamburgers made with pork patties marinated in white wine and paprika topped with coleslaw) to the amazingly fresh fish everywhere. We ate dinner at the tiny and friendly Cova Funda. They cooked us a stunning platter of mixed fish including sardines, mackerel, sea bass, bream, and tuna. We finished with a luscious panna cotta topped with red fruits and tiny meringues.

Around sunset at 9:15 p.m. we walked, maybe waddled, the half mile back to the Airbnb past the abundant and gorgeous street art and graffiti. Swallows twittered and swooped. Young people speaking all kinds of languages streamed past in high spirits on the way to dance and drink ginjinha.

To the younger generation, the evening was just the beginning, and events like the Revolution, the Inquisition, and the earthquake were ancient history. For us of the older generation, who have seen history repeat itself, we listen more attentively and ponder. Yet, for all of us, today was a perfect day in Lisbon.

Tony carried our guide Nelson’s history book to read. Nelson had inscribed it, “To my friend Antony, thank you so much for coming and sharing this afternoon with me…”

Next up: We take a train north of Lisbon to find more.

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