Sunny Lisbon » Did You Know? http://www.sunnylisbon.com The blog that tells you everything about Lisbon, Portugal. Mon, 13 Jul 2009 21:50:35 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8 en hourly 1 City Of The Seven Hills http://www.sunnylisbon.com/city-of-the-seven-hills/ http://www.sunnylisbon.com/city-of-the-seven-hills/#comments Sat, 21 Jun 2008 13:01:24 +0000 Bruno Marques http://luso.info/lisboa/?p=7 Portuguese know Lisbon as the “cidade das sete colinas” (city of the seven hills), since legend says that the city was originally built over seven hills. This is still one of the city catch-lines, as you can easily check by the bus tickets being named nowadays as 7 Colinas (7 Hills). This nickname is not really that original, since it has been adapted from Rome, Italy, claimed that also being built over seven hills (Aventinus, Caelius, Capitolinus, Esquilinus, Palatinus, Quirinalis and Viminalis).

This nickname is considered to be somehow mystic and it’s given to many important religious relevant cities like Rome, Jerusalem or Istambul. Other important cities also have it : Moscow, Prague, Barcelona, Budapest or Edimburgh to name a few.

As legend says, Lisbon was edified over these hills :

  • São Jorge : Where the castle with the same name is still standing.
  • São Vicente : Where the São Vincente de Fora Monastery and the Alfama area stands.
  • Sant’Ana : Between Martim Moniz square and the Rua Portas de Santo Antão, where the São José Hospital stands.
  • Santo André : Largo / Miradouro da Graça is the top of this hill.
  • Chagas : At Largo do Carmo
  • Santa Catarina : Around Largo Camões, Bairro Alto
  • São Roque : Around Miradouro de São Pedro de Alcantara, Bairro Alto.
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