"Marquês de Pombal" Plazas and squares Tip by J_Antunes

Marquês de Pombal is one of the most important squares of Lisbon. From there starts the magnificent Liberdade Avenue, the portuguese champs Elysées full of hotels and fashion stores. To north the biggest of central Lisbon Parque Eduardo VII and many other arteries that take the cars for other parts of Lisbon and the suburbs. The square itself is a symbol of status with hotels and headquarters of some of the most important portuguese companies.

In the centre of the square rises a high statue (36 meters) overlooking the city. Its name Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo, the Marquês de Pombal. Loved by some for his pragmatic reasoning and attempts of modernization of the country and hated by others by its attack to the institutions, thirst of power and cruelty he was the prime minister of the XVIII century king D. José I. Some say he was indeed the only one in charge.

But his major achievement and the fact that makes him more remembered was his action after the 1775 earthquake. Quick in the decision and pragmatic in the action he ordered the famous sentence "bury the deceased and take care of the living". Fast he sent the troops to the city to avoid pillage and did quick trials and hangings of those who did not comply with the rules.Order a fast clearing of all routes and excavation of the wreckage to find living people, created campaign hospitals and order an equal distribution of food amongst everyone and froze the price of goods for sometime to avoid speculation. Also ordered food help from other portuguese provinces which avoid hunger. With that he avoided further destruction and the spread of diseases. He then created a plan to built a new city centre of wide streets and straight quarters of buildings with complex sysmic systems that is today the Lisbon Downtown. In one year part of the city centre was already recovered. He also sent an inquiry to the parishes of Portugal to determine certain events such as if dogs and other animals have felt the earthquake and established the basis of the sysmic science. The estimate of the strenght of the Lisbon earthquake was of 9.0 of the Richter Scale which turns it into one of the strongest ever in the world and one of the deadliest with an estimate of 50.000 people dead. The earthquake had a major impact in the philosophy and the population of Lisbon. It was in the holiest of days, the 1st of November when all the churches were full of candles and therefore almost all collapsed and were consumed by fire.

Other important reforms of Marquês de Pombal were: the abolishment of slavery in Portugal and portuguese colonies in India, economic and military reforms and the end of discrimination against new christians (jewish people converted by strenght to cristianity).

The Távoras process where members of the nobility were arrested and prossecuted in a very irregular trial was one of his marks to destroy the power of some of the wealthy noble families of the country (see the story of Beco do Chão Salgado). The burning of one Jesuit priest in Praça do Comércio another sign of his hate to the jesuits which he expelled from Portugal.

The statue itself dates to 1934 and is in bronze with the image of the Marquês and a lion symbol of strenght and royalty. The statue is decorated with many symbols such as a woman that represents the nation, Adamastor the monster and the horse that came out of the water as a symbol of the tsunami, symbols of agriculture that the marques reorganized and developed, minerva the goddess of science and industry, etc, etc, etc...

And there remains the Marquês de Pombal overlooking the city and who knows to serve as an inspiration to the day when a similar event takes place. Just hoping it never happens again.

Directions: Its easy to get there, Marquês de Pombal subway station.