5 million (1999). To the north of Lisbon is Mount Sintra. Portugal's largest river, the Tejo, flows through the southern part of the city into the Atlantic Ocean. Influenced by the warm currents of the Atlantic Ocean, Lisbon has a favorable climate, with no ice in winter and no heat in summer. The average temperature in January and February is 8℃, and the average temperature in July and August is 26℃. Most of the year is windy, warm and pleasant. Lisbon was settled by humans in prehistoric times, and was captured by the first King of Portugal, Alfonso I, in 1147. In 1245, Lisbon became the capital and trading center of the Kingdom of Portugal. The city has 250 parks and gardens with 1,400 hectares of lawns and green spaces. The roads are lined with pine, palm, linden, lemon, olive and fig trees. The city is a large, charming and fragrant garden, where grass grows and flowers bloom all year round. The city is spread over six hills, and the view is beautiful, with houses with red roofs of varying shades and green trees of different shades.
Lisbon has many memorial towers and monuments. The Tower of Belém, located on the Atlantic coast, was built in the early 16th century, and at high tide, it seems to float on the water, with a beautiful view. The Monastery of Geronimos, in front of the tower, is a typical example of Manueline architecture popularized in the early 16th century, with its grandeur and ornate carvings. Within the grounds are the cemeteries of nationally recognized figures, where the Portuguese navigator da Gama and the famous poet Camoanz rest. Nearby monument to navigation, beautifully shaped, magnificent, as if sailing in the blue sea in the giant sailboat. The reliefs on the monument reproduce the heroic feats of the Portuguese navigators who traveled around the world and fought against the wind and waves. Square on the concrete, craftsmen made a huge world map, clearly marked out the Portuguese navigator sailed around the world years, places and routes, so that visitors to the Portuguese maritime history at a glance. Henry Monument is a stone galleon (Henry in the 15th century made a significant contribution to the Portuguese maritime career), Henry statue stands in the bow of the ship, surrounded by statues of captains, geographers, mathematicians, carpenters and other figures who assisted Henry. The Square of Pombal was built to commemorate the Marquis of Pombal's great contribution to the reconstruction of Lisbon, and in the center of the square stands the statue of the Marquis of Pombal. Lisbon is the transportation hub of the country and is the largest port in Portugal. The port area extends for 14 kilometers and 60% of the country's imported and exported goods are loaded and unloaded here. Transportation in Lisbon is mainly by car and metro. The metro was put into use in 1959, with 20 stations and an annual capacity of 132 million passengers. There are also funiculars and lifts that run on the city's hills. Lisbon is an industrially developed city. The southern bank of the Tejo River has become an important industrial center of Portugal. The main industries are shipbuilding, cement, steel, plastics, cork, textiles, paper and food processing. Lisbon's shipbuilding industry is world-famous, can manufacture 30-70 million tons of various tankers. It also has the largest dry dock in Europe, which can overhaul large tankers of 1 million tons. The annual ship repair volume accounts for 1/9 of the world's total ship repair volume. Lisbon's tourism industry plays an important role in promoting the capital's development into a modern city. The beautiful seaside baths along the Atlantic Ocean west of Lisbon are a famous tourist area in Portugal, attracting more than 1 million travelers from all over the world every year. Lisbon has become Portugal's largest tourist city. Lisbon is the cultural center of Portugal. The famous institution of higher learning - the University of Lisbon, built in 1911, with science, literature, law, pharmacy, medicine, psychology and education and other disciplines. Lisbon also has the Higher Institute of Technology, the Conservatory of Music and the Institute of Fine Arts. The National Library of Lisbon, built in 1796, has the richest collection of books in the country. Lisbon has many museums. The Carriage Museum has a collection of royal carriages from the 16th to mid-19th centuries, such as four-wheeled carriages, imperial chariots, sedan chair carriages, and two-wheeled light carriages, etc. The Calma Church, built in the 14th century, has been opened as an archaeological museum. The Museum of Folklore and Art, which exhibits modern and ancient decorative and folk art, among others. The Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon is the largest cultural center in Portugal and one of the largest in Europe. It aims to promote education, culture, art, science and philanthropy, and with a fund of more than 400 million dollars, it is one of the largest foundations in the world. The foundation is located in the Guben River Park, and the foundation's main office is connected to the museum with a 60-meter-long and 17-meter-wide gallery for art exhibits and a hall with 1,300 seats. The hall has excellent acoustics for performances of symphonies, ballets, plays, movies, and conferences, and each seat is equipped with simultaneous interpretation in six languages. There are rehearsal rooms and several small and medium-sized conference rooms adjacent to the hall. The museum displays more than 3,000 kinds of Eastern and Western cultural relics. Next to the museum is the library with a collection of 100,000 books. The Gulbenkian Foundation plays an important role in promoting the development of culture and education in Portugal and strengthening international cultural exchanges. Lisbon City Festival held once a year, is the traditional national holiday of the Portuguese people. On the night of the City Festival, the whole city is illuminated with bright lights. On this day, the districts also held a grand parade, in the parade, people wearing colorful traditional national costumes, holding paper lanterns, lanterns painted above the famous buildings and the citizens of the interesting life scene. Main tourist attractions: The Plaza de Comercio (Praca do
Comercio), which housed the Royal Palace in the 16th century, was destroyed by the earthquake of 1755. In the center of the square is the statue of Joseph I riding. Behind the statue is the Triumphal Arch. The buildings on either side of the square were government offices. The area between the Plaza de Comercio and the Plaza Rossio is the Baitxa, Lisbon's famous business district, and to the west there is the S?o Júst?o Tower, which is famous because it was built by the same designer as the Eiffel Tower in Paris. The hill to the east of the square is the old Alfama neighborhood, with its old houses, steep and narrow streets, and St. George's Castle at the top of the hill. The Alfama district is famous for its restaurants, bars and nightclubs and is a great place to enjoy the nightlife. Some of the bars also offer the chance to enjoy the famous local folk Fado songs and dances. Castelo de Sao
Jorge, the ancient and magnificent castle is built on a hill and is a great place to enjoy the view over the city of Lisbon. There was a castle here in Roman times, and Portugal had a king who lived here before the royal family moved to the palace at the bottom of the hill and converted it into a military barracks. Today, only the walls and a few buildings remain. Avenida da Liberdade (Avenida da Liberdade)
, is Lisbon's busy commercial street. It is lined with upscale luxury hotels, bank offices, restaurants, clothing stores and more. The northernmost part of the street is Edward VII Park. Edward VII Park (Parque Eduardo VII) is the largest green space in the city. It is built on a hill and is topped by a large fountain. The Nautical Monument (Padrao dos
Descobrimentos) was built in 1960 to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the death of Henry, Prince of Sail. The monument is shaped like a galleon and is carved with several statues, with Henry standing at the bow, followed by Gama, who discovered the route from Europe to India, and others of the navigators who set out with him, famous generals of Portuguese history, missionaries and scientists, among others. On the floor of the monument is a map of the world with the date of the discovery of the New World. Torre de
Belem, a tower built in 1500, is also a famous Portuguese landmark. The tower looks more like an old castle and is made of white marble. The tower has a basement on the ground floor, which is said to have been a water cellar in the past.
The Jeronimos Monastery (Mosteiro dos
Jeronimos), a magnificent Goethean structure built in 1502, is the largest church in Portugal. Inside is buried the famous navigator Dajamar, whose sarcophagus is engraved with the markings of the voyage. The cloisters in the backyard of the church are decorated with nautical motifs, and behind the cloisters is an elegant atrium garden. Two nearby museums worth seeing are the Carriage Museum and the Maritime Museum. The Oceans
Pavilion is one of the largest aquariums of marine life in Europe, with more than 15,000 species of marine life. Next door is the Nautical Exhibition Hall, which displays hundreds of traditional sailing ships from around the world. Another nautical knowledge museum has a variety of models, instruments, audio-visual equipment, can be a comprehensive understanding of the sea, as well as the development of maritime technology through the ages.