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A Visit to Portugal


Portugal is the westernmost country in Europe, sharing the Iberian peninsula with Spain (Portugal, 2004). Lisbon is the capital of Portugal, and it has a population of around 3,754,000 (Portugal, 2004). It is on the west coast of Portugal. The average winter temperature in Lisbon is 34 F, and the average summer temperature is 74 F (Portugal, 2004).

I’ve chosen to write about my visit to Lisbon in May of 2015. I’ve chosen pictures that illustrate qualities of the city that I find interesting. Your essay will have more text, but this will give you an idea of how to get started. Now let’s explore Lisbon!

"Hot summer night" by Daniel Lerps is made available under a CC BY ND 2.0 license. https://flic.kr/p/WsP2a4

Hot summer night” by Daniel Lerps is made available under a CC BY ND 2.0 license.

This is a picture of Lisbon from the top Sao Jorge Castle. San Jorge Castle was the ancient seat of power in Portugal for over 400 years (“Lisbon Castle”, 2018). There are two distinct sections of the castle. One part was built pre-12th century, the other in the 13th and 14th centuries (“Lisbon Castle”, 2018).

taken by Annie Jansen, May 2015 This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

This is a picture of the Portuguese flag flying on the Moorish part of Sao Jorge castle. Moorish means built by the Moors, who had conquered Lisbon and the rest of the Iberian peninsula from the 8th century to the 15th century (Sherwood, 2015).

Portuguese Flag at Sao Jorge Castle by Annie Jansen

Portuguese Flag at Sao Jorge Castle by Annie Jansen This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

The Moors also built the part of the city that is today known as the Alfama (“Castelo de Sao Jorge”, 2015). The Alfama district had been occupied by the Visigoths as early at the 5th century, but the Moors built up the Alfama after earthquakes and invasions (Portugal, 2004). Alfama is the oldest part of the city and is full of winding roads too narrow for modern cars. While Alfama is beautiful, the rest of Lisbon is just as pretty. The following are pictures of the tiled buildings near the center of Lisbon.

Tiled buildings in Lisbon by Annie Jansen This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

A square with tiled buildings and ground by Annie Jansen This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

More buildings with tiles in Lisbon by Annie Jansen This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

These shots show some of the beauty of Lisbon, which is part of why I enjoyed visiting it so much. They don’t do it justice, but I hope they show some of the vibrance and colorful splendor of the city of Lisbon.

 

 

References

Lonely Planet. (2015). “Castelo de São Jorge.” Lonely Planet: Lisbon Attractions. Retrieved from https://www.lonelyplanet.com/portugal/lisbon/attractions/castelo-de-sao-jorge/a/poisig/400925/360366.

The Best Guide to Lisbon. (2018). “Lisbon Castle.” The Best Guide to Lisbon. Retrieved from https://lisbon-portugal-guide.com/Alfama-Lisbon/lisbon-castle-st-george.html

Portugal. (2012). In T. L. Gall & D. M. Gleason (Eds.), Worldmark Encyclopedia of the Nations (13th ed., Vol. 5, pp. 551-566). Detroit: Gale. Retrieved from http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/CX4017200279/GVRL?u=psucic&sid=GVRL&xid=7e588146

Sherwood, S. ( April 1, 2015). “36 hours in Lisbon,” The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/05/travel/-2015-04-05-travel-what-to-do-in-36-hours-in-lisbon.html