The Praça do Comércio (; ) is a large, harbour-facing

plaza A town square (or public square, urban square, city square or simply square), also called a plaza or piazza, is an open public space commonly found in the heart of a traditional town or city, and which is used for community gatherings. Rela ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

's capital,

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

, 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 The Tagus ( ; ; ) is the longest river in the Iberian Peninsula. The river rises in the Montes Universales between Cuenca and Teruel, in mid-eastern Spain, flows , generally westward, and empties into the Atlantic Ocean in Lisbon. Name T ...

() to the South, the plaza is still commonly known in Portuguese as Terreiro do Paço ( (), as it hosted the Paço da Ribeira () until the latter was destroyed by 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, All Saints' Day, Feast of All Saints, at around 09:40 local time. In ...

(the subway station located there is still named after the old name of the plaza). After the earthquake, the plaza was completely remodeled as part of the rebuilding of the Pombaline Downtown (''Baixa''), ordered by

Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo, 1st Marquis of Pombal Dom (honorific), D. Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo, 1st Marquis of Pombal and 1st Count of Oeiras (13 May 1699 – 8 May 1782), known as the Marquis of Pombal ( ), was a Portuguese statesman and diplomat who Despotism, despotically ruled ...

, who was (chief) Minister of Portugal from 1750 to 1777, during the reign of the Portuguese King

José I '' Dom'' Joseph I (; 6 June 1714 – 24 February 1777), known as the Reformer (Portuguese: ''o Reformador''), was King of Portugal from 31 July 1750 until his death in 1777. Among other activities, Joseph was devoted to hunting and the opera. H ...

. From the 19th century onwards, Praça do Comércio became the seat of some of the most important Portuguese state departments, including the Ministries of

Finances Finance refers to monetary resources and to the study and discipline of money, currency, assets and liabilities. As a subject of study, is a field of Business Administration wich study the planning, organizing, leading, and controlling of an o ...

, Internal Administration,

Agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

and Maritime Affairs; before the

Carnation Revolution The Carnation Revolution (), code-named Operation Historic Turn (), also known as the 25 April (), was a military coup by military officers that overthrew the Estado Novo government on 25 April 1974 in Portugal. The coup produced major socia ...

(1974) and the creation of a unified

Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

, it was also the location of the War and Navy Ministries, as well as the old Ministry of Colonies (up to 1967), and thus also became a methonym for the Portuguese central government. Also housed there is the

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

. In June 1910, just a few months before the establishment of the Portuguese Republic, Praça do Comércio was classified as a National Monument of Portugal.

History

Urban development of the banks of the

river (the ''Ribeira'') was given firm impulse in the early 16th century, when King Manuel I built a new royal residence – the Ribeira Palace – by the river, outside the city walls. The area was further developed with the building of a port, shipbuilding facilities (the ''Ribeira das Naus''), the Casa da Índia and other administrative buildings that regulated the commerce between

and other parts of Europe and its colonies in Africa, Asia and the Americas. On 1 November 1755, during the reign of King José I, a great earthquake followed by a

tsunami A tsunami ( ; from , ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and underwater explosions (including detonations, ...

and fire destroyed most of Lisbon, including the Ribeira Palace and other buildings by the river. José I's Prime Minister, the Marquis of Pombal, coordinated a massive rebuilding effort led by Portuguese architect Eugénio dos Santos. He designed a large, rectangular square in the shape of a "U", open towards the Tagus. The buildings have galleries on their ground floors, and the arms of the "U" end in two large towers, reminiscent of the monumental tower of the destroyed Ribeira Palace, still vivid in the architectural memory of the city. His plan was realised almost completely, although decorative details were changed and the east tower of the square and the Augusta Street Arch were only finished in the 19th century. This triumphal arch was designed by the Portuguese architect Santos de Carvalho and was completed in 1873. The top section includes statues representing important Portuguese figures such as

Vasco da Gama Vasco da Gama ( , ; – 24 December 1524), was a Portuguese explorer and nobleman who was the Portuguese discovery of the sea route to India, first European to reach India by sea. Da Gama's first voyage (1497–1499) was the first to link ...

and the Marquis of Pombal. The square was named Praça do Comércio, the Square of Commerce, to indicate its new function in the economy of Lisbon. The symmetrical buildings of the square were filled with government bureaux regulating customs and port activities. The centrepiece of the ensemble was the equestrian statue of King José I, inaugurated in 1775 in the centre of the square. This bronze statue, the first monumental statue dedicated to a king in Lisbon, was designed by

Joaquim Machado de Castro Joaquim Machado de Castro (19 June 1731 – 17 November 1822) was one of Portugal's foremost sculpture, sculptors. He wrote extensively on his works and the theory behind them, including a full-length discussion of the statue of Joseph I of Por ...

, Portugal's foremost sculptor of the time. Lisbon Arco da Rua Augusta pano

Opening towards Augusta Street, which links the square with the other traditional Lisbon square, the

Rossio The King Pedro IV Square (), popularly known as Rossio (), is a square in the Pombaline Downtown of Lisbon, Portugal. It has been one of its main squares since the Middle Ages. It has been the setting of popular revolts and celebrations, bullf ...

, the original project by Eugénio dos Santos planned a triumphal arch, only realised in 1875. This arch, usually called the Arco da Rua Augusta, was designed by Veríssimo da Costa. It has a clock and statues of Glory, Ingenuity and Valor (by the French sculptor Calmels) and those of Viriatus,

Nuno Álvares Pereira '' Dom'' Nuno Álvares Pereira, OCarm (; 24 June 1360 – 1 November 1431) was a very successful Portuguese general who had a decisive role in the 1383–1385 Crisis that assured Portugal's independence from Castile. He later became a my ...

and, of course, the Marquis of Pombal. On 1 February 1908, the square was the scene of the

assassination Assassination is the willful killing, by a sudden, secret, or planned attack, of a personespecially if prominent or important. It may be prompted by political, ideological, religious, financial, or military motives. Assassinations are orde ...

of Carlos I, the penultimate King of Portugal. On their way back from the palace of Vila Viçosa to the royal palace in Lisbon, the carriage containing Carlos I and his family passed through the Terreiro do Paço. While crossing the square, shots were fired from the crowd by at least two men: Alfredo Luís da Costa and Manuel Buíça. The king died immediately, his heir Luís Filipe was mortally wounded, and Prince Manuel was hit in the arm. The assassins were shot on the spot by police and later recognized as members of the Republican Party – which two years later overthrew the Portuguese monarchy. The wealth of Portugal was channeled through this plaza and port. It serves as not only a transportation hub but also as a hub for commercial businesses, having two main directions of travel, west and south. The northern side tram leads to the district of Belem and the southern port is a ferry that goes across the River Tagus. The destruction of the palace led to the loss of the greatest archive of Portuguese literature. The library housed over 200,000 books. The reconstruction took around a century to go from plans to finished construction. At the southern end of the plaza at the water's edge was a grand marble staircase meant for the arrival of royal dignitaries. These steps date to before the 1755 earthquake and would have led straight into the royal palace. On June 10, the day of Portugal, the plaza is full of military and residents who celebrate the day. The plaza is home to the oldest café in the city, Martinho da Arcada (established 1782). It also houses the monumental Pousada Hotel. The western tower of the square (where once stood the

Navy A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral z ...

and the Colonies Ministries), houses the Baixa's location of the Museum of Lisbon.

References

External links

General Bureau for National Buildings and Monuments (Portugal)Presentation showing a virtual reconstruction of the Terreiro do Paço just before the 1755 earthquake
{{DEFAULTSORT:Praca Do Comercio Squares in Lisbon Neoclassical architecture in Portugal Palladian Revival architecture National monuments in Lisbon District

History

See also

References

External links