Lisbon

Settled by pre-Celtic and Celtic peoples, the site at the mouth of the Tagus traded metals, salt and salted fish with the interior, and the Phoenicians founded a trading post. Under Rome, Olisipo became a self-governing municipium named Felicitas Julia, known for its garum fish sauce, wine and horses. The Suebi held it until 585, and under Muslim rule from the 8th century the city rebuilt its wall and grew; the name Alfama comes from the Arabic al-hamma. In 1147 Afonso Henriques took Lisbon with the help of crusaders, and in 1255 it replaced Coimbra as the capital.

Most of the voyages of discovery set out from Lisbon, including Vasco da Gama's expedition to India in 1498, and their riches paid for the Manueline Jerónimos Monastery and Belém Tower. Spain's Habsburgs ruled from 1580 until a coup in Lisbon on 1 December 1640 restored independence. On 1 November 1755 an earthquake, tsunami and fire killed an estimated 30,000 to 40,000 residents and destroyed 85 per cent of the city's structures; the Marquis of Pombal rebuilt the Baixa on a grid with earthquake-resistant timber frames.

From 1808 to 1821 the court ruled from Rio de Janeiro. King Carlos was assassinated in Lisbon in 1908, the monarchy fell in the revolution of 5 October 1910, and the coup of 28 May 1926 led to the Estado Novo. Neutral in the Second World War, Lisbon was a gateway for refugees and a haven for spies. The Carnation Revolution of 25 April 1974 ended the dictatorship. A fire destroyed much of Chiado in 1988; the city was European Capital of Culture in 1994 and hosted Expo '98, which transformed the eastern riverside. On 3 September 2025 a car of the Glória funicular derailed, killing 16 people.

Fado is Lisbon's song, a melancholy music heard in the many fado bars and restaurants of Alfama; the Fado Museum in Alfama has told its story since 1998. Azulejos, painted tiles, are the city's other signature, covering facades, churches and metro stations and collected in the National Museum of the Azulejo. Café life has a literary edge: the poet Fernando Pessoa was a regular at A Brasileira in Chiado, where his bronze statue now sits at a terrace table.

June belongs to Santo António, Lisbon's popular saint, whose day, 13 June, is the city holiday. On the eve the neighbourhoods compete in the Marchas Populares, a tradition begun in 1932, with teams in handmade costumes marching and dancing to popular music, while Alfama and the other old quarters hold street parties with music and food. In July the NOS Alive festival brings international acts to the riverside at Algés.

Football divides the city. Benfica has won 38 league titles and two European Cups, and Sporting 20 league titles and the Cup Winners' Cup; Benfica's Estádio da Luz, with over 65,000 seats, hosted the Champions League finals of 2014 and 2020. Lisbon hosted the Eurovision Song Contest in 2018 and hosts the Web Summit. Around two-thirds of city residents are Catholic, a higher share than in the wider metropolitan area, and the city is a member of the Union of Capital Cities of Portuguese Language, a reminder of its ties with Brazil and Africa.

About 658,000 people lived within the city limits in 2025 — the highest figure since 1991 and a rise of about a fifth since 2021 — and about 3.35 million in the metropolitan area, around 28 per cent of Portugal's population. For decades before that the city's population had been falling, while the metropolitan area spread across both banks of the Tagus, and the metro now reaches suburbs such as Amadora and Loures.

Lisbon is the country's political and business centre, home to the parliament and the prime minister's official residence, and most multinationals operating in Portugal have their headquarters in the Lisbon area, while the south bank of the Tagus is heavily industrial. Tourism has grown enormously: in 2022 there were about six tourists for every resident, and many homes in the centre have become tourist accommodation, worsening a shortage of housing. Energy, supermarkets and housing are among the most expensive in Europe relative to local incomes. Carlos Moedas has been mayor since 2021 and was re-elected in 2025.

The metro carries hundreds of thousands of passengers a day, and commuters cross the Tagus by bridge and ferry. Cycling has grown since the pandemic with the Gira bike-share scheme, and in 2024 the government chose Alcochete, across the Tagus, as the site of a new international airport.

The city's best-known sweet is the pastel de nata, a custard tart sometimes dusted with cinnamon. It descends from the pastéis de Belém created by the monks of the Jerónimos Monastery, who used leftover egg yolks for pastries; after the monastery closed in 1834 the recipe was sold to a sugar refinery whose owners opened the Fábrica de Pastéis de Belém in 1837, where the original recipe is still kept secret.

Lisbon's street food is simple: the bifana, a sandwich of thin pork simmered with garlic and wine in heated bread, eaten at festivals across the country, and the prego, its beef counterpart. Seafood classics include amêijoas à Bulhão Pato, clams with garlic, olive oil and coriander, and bacalhau à Brás, shredded salt cod with straw potatoes and egg, said to come from the Bairro Alto. Grilled sardines are the taste of the June festivities in the old quarters.

Ginjinha, a liqueur made by infusing sour cherries in aguardente with sugar and spices, is the city's typical drink; a bar on Largo de São Domingos, off the Rossio, was the first in Lisbon to sell it, and it is still drunk there by the glass. The Mercado da Ribeira at Cais do Sodré houses the Time Out Market food hall, and the 1934 market of Campo de Ourique mixes fresh produce with gourmet stalls. Food has deep roots here: Roman Olisipo exported garum, a prized fish sauce, to Rome.