Walk with me through the streets of Lisbon, PORTUGAL (Part2)

osm0sis (60)in #photography • 7 years ago (edited)

Yesterday, we began our walk through the streets of Lisbon by observing its beautiful ground mosaics and getting lost in quaint cobblestone streets. On our way, we immersed ourselves in the city's creative vibe surrounding us with every step.
Despite the many steep hills, walking is by far, the best way to experience Lisbon (with the tram coming up close in 2nd place).

So get your sneakers on and come with me on my second day in Lisbon to discover a multitude of treasures!

Commerce Square, better known as Praça do Comércio, is situated near the Tagus river and is Lisbon's main square. It was built on the site where the old Royal Palace stood, before it was destroyed by the 1755 earthquake.
When the square was first built, the commercial ships would unload their goods directly here, as it was considered the “door” to Lisbon.
Notice the equestrian statue of Joseph I of Portugal and the majestic triumphal arch built to celebrate the reconstruction of the city after the earthquake.

Top left is the row of arcades found all along the façade of the buildings surrounding Commerce Square.

When I walked past the river, I found a wide display of cairn had been built using riverbed rocks. I was itching to make my own as it is one of my favourite activity when traveling, but the horde of tourists trying to capture photos made this endeavour impossible.

Surprising to see there were still quite a lot of tourists for an early November day...

Lisbon is a city blessed with an unusual light. Its architecture makes the most of this, with buildings designed around luminosity, shade and shadow.
The Santa Justa Lift which you can see on the 2nd photo from the left, was engineer Mesnier du Ponsard's answer to all pedestrian prayers! The iron structure opened in 1902 and stands 45m high (148 feet tall).
Glad to see somebody came up with an idea to remedy Lisbon's tired feet from walking up and down the numerous hills!

As I mentioned in my previous post, Lisbon is home to the worldwide known azulejos: tin-glazed ceramic tilework found on the interior and exterior of just about any building/monument in the city (houses, schools, churches, palaces, and nowadays bars, restaurants, and even subway or railway stations).
As one cannot possibly visit Lisbon without noticing this beautiful work of art, I found myself capturing every possible tile in search for the one I hadn't photographed yet. A very fun treasure hunt if you like walking (Thanks for enduring the pain @abh12345 😉).

_{Façade of a home decorated with azulejos}	_{Azulejos galoooore!}

Azulejos are typically applied on walls, floors and even ceilings! In the past, they were not only used as an ornamental art form, but also had a specific functional capacity like temperature control in homes.
Above is a collection of some of my favourite ones in shades of green and purple.
And below is what I suppose was a reconstruction of fallen tiles using spare ones(?), in the church of Nossa Senhora da Conceição.

The word Azulejo is derived from the Arabic word al zulaycha, meaning "little polished stone" because the original idea was to imitate the Roman mosaics.

The ceramic techniques and glazing methods were adapted centuries ago when Christian and Islamic-Moorish cultures coexisted on the Iberian peninsula.

The patterns used are complex and reflect a taste for geometry and floral designs.

I found this shop walking up towards São Jorge Castle. Shame it was closed as I am sure the inside is just as fascinating as the outside.
If you look at each detail in the photo closely, you may notice the intricately designed window frames and wrought iron doors blending together beautifully within the surrounding azulejos.

One of my most unexpected surprises when wandering through the streets of Lisbon was discovering the insane amount of quality street art.

La meilleure traduction entre deux langues est un baiser -----> The best translation between two languages is a kiss (in French the word "langue" has 2 meanings: language and tongue😉)

_{BE YOUR REVOLUTION}	_{Futuristic city}

The more professional displays of street art have helped to beautify run-down, vacant buildings and add a special brightness to the city’s trendy neighborhoods.

This is the end of my second day in this beautiful city. I hope you enjoyed tagging along.

Do you know of a city which would easily rival with Lisbon's street art culture?

All photos in this post were taken with my SONY Xperia Z3.

Please don't hesitate to leave comments, share ideas, upvote/resteem. I love to hear from all of you!

To check out some of my previous posts, click on the links below:

_{Walk with me LISBON Part1}	_CryptoKitty
_{Guessing Game}	_{Black and White}

_{Map Location: !steemitworldmap 38.7223 lat 9.1393 long LISBON D3SCR}

“Learning is not a race for information, it is a walk of discovery” - Jane Healy

#walkwithme #steemfest #lisbon #sndbox

7 years ago in #photography by osm0sis (60)

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natureofbeing (69) 7 years ago

what an extraordinary city, the more I learn about it the more I love it. This time it's your description of the light and how the architecture in created in harmony with the workings of the light! Your photos are fantastic and as with part 1, I really appreciate your sensibility both aesthetically and with telling your story. I've long been fascinated with azulejos but you've shown a much more interesting variety than I've ever seen - gorgeous!