Lisbon Architectural Walking Tour with Art Historian

Casa dos Bicos is a distinctive historic building beside the Tagus, known for its diamond-patterned stone façade. Inside, we’ll discover around 2,000 years of history, including Roman and Arab remains and parts of Lisbon’s medieval walls.

Lisbon Cathedral (Sé) is one of the city’s finest examples of medieval architecture. Built in the 12th century, its Romanesque façade and fortress-like appearance reflect its defensive origins. Inside, we’ll explore how the cathedral evolved over nearly 900 years.

Mouraria offers a fascinating glimpse of Lisbon before the 1755 earthquake. Once the Moorish quarter of medieval Lisbon, much of its historic street layout survived, along with buildings preserving earlier architectural features. We’ll also see rare examples of pre-18th-century construction designed to withstand earthquakes, offering insight into how Lisbon’s builders responded to seismic risk long before 1755.

Baixa is an extraordinary example of 18th-century urban planning and reconstruction following the 1755 earthquake. We’ll explore its carefully organized street grid and the innovative anti-seismic construction techniques used in its rebuilding, including the timber “cage” system that combined architecture and engineering on an unprecedented scale.

Rossio Square offers a glimpse into Lisbon’s 19th-century additions and cultural influences within the reconstructed city centre. We’ll explore the artistic patterns of Portuguese calçada, the Neoclassical D. Maria II National Theatre, and the view towards the Carmo ruins, which became an expression of the Romantic fascination with ruins after the 1755 earthquake.

Explore Areeiro and the architecture of the Estado Novo dictatorship, including the Portuguese Suave style and the major urban developments that reshaped Lisbon during the 1930s–1960s. This is a more local part of Lisbon, making it a great place to stop for a snack or lunch and experience the neighbourhood at a more relaxed pace.

Explore how the Estado Novo embraced Modernism in its early years at Instituto Superior Técnico and the nearby Instituto Nacional de Estatística, two important examples of Lisbon’s changing architectural landscape.

Discover Parque das Nações, where Expo ’98 marked a turning point in the reshaping of Lisbon’s eastern waterfront, transforming a former industrial area into a new urban district that continues to evolve today. We’ll also have the chance to admire the Pavilhão de Portugal, designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Álvaro Siza Vieira.