Phoenicians, Celts, Romans, Moors, all left their mark on Lisbon. The Portuguese capital is said to be the oldest still-inhabited city in Europe after Athens, and every time a hole is dug, something from a very distant past is revealed. Many of those archaeological finds were unearthed around the Castle of St. George (it was given that name in the 14th century after King João of Portugal married the English princess Philippa of Lancaster), and the site includes a small museum with the most important finds. However, the archaeological site itself has remained closed since the mid-90s until today.
Lisbon is now the only European capital with an archaeological site showing remains from constructions dating back to the Iron Age all the way to the 18th century. This is one of the rare sites on Earth where you can see the presence of so many civilizations, and for those interested in archaeology or the history of Lisbon, it’s a site not to miss when visiting the city and one of its most beloved landmarks.

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This entry was posted on Thursday, March 18th, 2010 at 1:26 pm and is filed under Alfama, Sights. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.