The Rossio is the popular name of the King Pedro IV Square ( pt, Praça de D. Pedro IV) in the city of Lisbon, in

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

. It is located in the

Pombaline Downtown The Baixa ''(Downtown)'' (), also known as the Baixa Pombalina (''Pombaline Downtown'') is a neighborhood in the historic center of Lisbon, Portugal. It consists of the grid of streets north of the Praça do Comércio, roughly between the Cais d ...

of Lisbon and has been one of its main squares since the Middle Ages. It has been the setting of popular revolts and celebrations, bullfights and executions, and is now a preferred meeting place of Lisbon natives and tourists alike. The current name of the Rossio pays homage to Pedro IV, King of Portugal. The Column of Pedro IV is in the middle of the square.

History and highlights

Origins

The Rossio became an important place in the city during the 13th and 14th centuries, when the population of the city expanded to the lower area surrounding the

Lisbon Castle Saint George's Castle ( pt, Castelo de São Jorge; ) is a historic castle in the Portuguese capital of Lisbon, located in the ''freguesia'' of Santa Maria Maior. Human occupation of the castle hill dates to at least the 8th century BC while t ...

hill. The name "rossio" is roughly equivalent to the word "commons" in English, and refers to a commonly owned terrain. Around 1450, the Palace of Estaus, destined to house foreign dignitaries and noblemen visiting Lisbon, was built on the north side of the square. After the

Inquisition The Inquisition was a group of institutions within the Catholic Church whose aim was to combat heresy, conducting trials of suspected heretics. Studies of the records have found that the overwhelming majority of sentences consisted of penances, ...

was installed in Lisbon, the Palace of Estaus became its seat, and the Rossio was frequently used as setting for public executions. The first

auto-da-fé An ''auto-da-fé'' ( ; from Portuguese , meaning 'act of faith'; es, auto de fe ) was the ritual of public penance carried out between the 15th and 19th centuries of condemned heretics and apostates imposed by the Spanish, Portuguese, or Mexi ...

took place in 1540. In 1492, King John II ordered the building of one of the most important civil and charitative infrastructures in old Lisbon, the All-Saints Royal Hospital (''

Hospital Real de Todos os Santos The Hospital Real de Todos-os-Santos (''All Saints Royal Hospital'') was a major hospital in Lisbon, Portugal. The hospital was built between 1492 and 1504 and was destroyed in the 1755 Lisbon earthquake, along with most of the city. It was never ...

''). The Hospital was finished in 1504, during the reign of

King Manuel I Manuel I (; 31 May 146913 December 1521), known as the Fortunate ( pt, O Venturoso), was King of Portugal from 1495 to 1521. A member of the House of Aviz, Manuel was Duke of Beja and Viseu prior to succeeding his cousin, John II of Portugal, as ...

, and occupied the whole eastern side of the square. Old pictures show the façade of the Hospital to consist of a long building with an arched gallery. The portal to the chapel of the Hospital, facing the Rossio, had a magnificent façade in

manueline The Manueline ( pt, estilo manuelino, ), occasionally known as Portuguese late Gothic, is the sumptuous, composite Portuguese architectural style originating in the 16th century, during the Portuguese Renaissance and Age of Discoveries. Manuel ...

style. Near the northeastern corner of the square, actually in the neighbouring St Domingo Square, is located the Palace of the Almadas, recognisable by its early 18th century red façade. In 1640, this Palace was the meeting point of Portuguese noblemen who conspired against Spain and led to the independence of Portugal from Spanish rule. The building is also called the Palace of the Independence for this reason. The Convent of St Dominic was established in the 13th century by the Rossio. Their church was greatly damaged by the 1755 earthquake and was rebuilt in baroque style. Its façade dominates the small St Dominic square.

1755 earthquake and rebuilding

Most buildings around the Rossio date from the reconstruction of the

carried out after the great

1755 Lisbon earthquake The 1755 Lisbon earthquake, also known as the Great Lisbon earthquake, impacted Portugal, the Iberian Peninsula, and Northwest Africa on the morning of Saturday, 1 November, Feast of All Saints, at around 09:40 local time. In combination with ...

, which levelled most structures in the area, including the magnificent All-Saints Hospital. Only the Palace of the Independence survived the catastrophic earthquake. The rebuilding of the Rossio was undertaken in the second half of the 18th century by architects Eugénio dos Santos and Carlos Mardel, responsible for the typical Pombaline appearance of the buildings around the square. From the Pombaline reconstruction dates the Bandeira Arch (''Arco da Bandeira''), a building at the south side of the square with a baroque

pediment Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds. A pedim ...

and a big arch that communicates the Rossio with the Sapateiros Street. The Rossio became linked to the other main square of the city, the

Praça do Comércio The Praça do Comércio (; ) is a large, harbour-facing plaza in Portugal's capital, Lisbon, and is one of the largest in Portugal, with an area of 175 by 175 m (574 by 574 ft), that is, 30,600 m2 (329,000 ft2). Facing the Tagus () to the South, ...

, by two straight streets: the Áurea and the Augusta Streets. After a fire in 1836, the old Inquisition Palace was destroyed. Thanks to the efforts of writer

Almeida Garrett João Baptista da Silva Leitão de Almeida Garrett, 1st Viscount of Almeida Garrett (; 4 February 1799 – 9 December 1854) was a Portuguese poet, orator, playwright, novelist, journalist, politician, and a peer of the realm. A major promoter of t ...

, it was decided to build a theatre in its place. The ''Teatro Nacional D. Maria II'', built in the 1840s, was designed by the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

''Fortunato Lodi'' in neoclassical style. A statue of the

renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...

Portuguese playwright

Gil Vicente Gil Vicente (; c. 1465c. 1536), called the Trobadour, was a Portuguese playwright and poet who acted in and directed his own plays. Considered the chief dramatist of Portugal he is sometimes called the "Portuguese Plautus," often ref ...

is located over the

of the theatre. Some of Gil Vicente's plays had been censured by the Inquisition back in the 16th century. In the 19th century the Rossio was paved with typical Portuguese mosaic and was adorned with bronze fountains imported from

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

. The Column of Pedro IV was erected in 1874. At this time the square received its current official name, never accepted by the people. Between 1886 and 1887 another important landmark was built in the square: the Rossio Train Station (''Estação de Caminhos de Ferro do Rossio''). The Station was built by architect ''José Luís Monteiro'' and was an important addition to the infrastructure of the city. Its neo-

façade dominates the northwest side of the square.

Significance

The Rossio has been a meeting place for people of Lisbon for centuries. Some of the

cafés A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café is an establishment that primarily serves coffee of various types, notably espresso, latte, and cappuccino. Some coffeehouses may serve cold drinks, such as iced coffee and iced tea, as well as other non-c ...

and shops of the square date from the 18th century, like the ''Café Nicola'', where poet

Manuel Maria Barbosa du Bocage Manuel Maria Barbosa l'Hedois du Bocage (15 September 1765 – 21 December 1805), most often referred to simply as Bocage, was a Portuguese Neoclassic poet, writing at the beginning of his career under the pen name ''Elmano Sadino''. Biography ...

used to meet friends. Other traditional shops include the ''Pastelaria Suíça'' (1922–2018) and the '' Ginjinha'', where the typical Lisbon spirit ( Ginjinha) can be tasted. The building of the Maria II Theatre and the Public Gardens to the north of the square only made the area more attended by Lisbon high society in the 19th century. Nowadays it is constantly populated by Lisboners and tourists.

References

External links