Lisbon

Lisbon is the Portuguese capital, with a municipal population of around 560,000 people, while Lisbon Metropolitan Area (LMA) in total has around 2,8 million inhabitants. LMA has an Atlantic coast with circa 150 km and a riverbank area of 200 km, presenting a significant morphological variety and rich natural resources. It has an enormous environmental, economical and leisure potential to preserve and valorise. With more than two thousand years of history, it isn't difficult to find in Lisbon  diverse districts and monuments reflecting different periods in history, and events, many of them somehow connected with the Tagus River.

Tagus is a big river that rises in Spain and crosses Portugal from side to side until it flows in the Atlantic Ocean, near Lisbon, playing an imperative role in the cities’ military, social and economical development, serving as a defensive measure for the inhabitants, and as a great means of communication creating an open window for the new world’s yet to be discovered. It was by water that many populations arrived to make a new living and/or establish all kinds of contacts and negotiations. It was from the Tagus’ riverbank in Lisbon that most of the ships from the Portuguese expeditions left, including the famous Vasco da Gama departure to India, making the city one of the main points of commerce with Africa, India, the Far East and Brazil during the times of the discoveries. 

As an important part of the city landscape, nowadays the river offers leisure facilities (bars, restaurants and night clubs), cultural facilities (monuments and museums), as well as green areas for walking and cycling, all along with great weather conditions during most of the year.

With a big riverbank rehabilitation, first in 1998 for the world Expo, and then in 2010 specially directed to the areas of “Praça do Comércio” and “Belém”, we’re expecting the rise of even more touristic and cultural facilities connected with a range of new economic possibilities, continuing to make Lisbon a great destination for all purposes.