Praça do Município: The Balcony of the Republic
Why is it significant?
Face the long neoclassical building with the flags and the central balcony, then turn to the twisted white column in the middle of the square, spiralling up like a stick of barley sugar. Around you, the wavy pavement radiates out from its base. This is Lisbon's city hall, the Paços do Concelho.
Key Facts
| Place | Praça do Município: The Balcony of the Republic |
|---|---|
| Address | Praça do Município, 1100-365 Lisboa, Portugal |
| Geo Coordinates | 38.70810, -9.13910 |
| Part of Walk | After the Earthquake: The Baixa Pombalina and the Lisbon of 1755 |
| Generated | Generated |
Face the long neoclassical building with the flags and the central balcony, then turn to the twisted white column in the middle of the square, spiralling up like a stick of barley sugar. Around you, the wavy pavement radiates out from its base.
This is Lisbon's city hall, the Paços do Concelho. The council's old building went down in 1755, and a new one was raised as part of the reconstruction. Then, in 1863, that one burned too, and the building you see is the rebuilding that followed. Lisbon has a habit of losing its buildings to earthquakes and fire and simply drawing them again, a little grander each time.
Now look at the balcony. On the morning of 5 October 1910, after a short revolt in the streets, republican leaders stepped out onto it and proclaimed the end of the monarchy. The young king, Manuel the Second, sailed into exile in England. Every year on that date the Portuguese president comes back to this balcony, because this is where the Republic was born.
The twisted column is the pelourinho, the pillory. For centuries every Portuguese town with its own charter had one, a symbol of municipal justice, and some had iron hooks where offenders were displayed or punished. This one was raised during the reconstruction years, more elegant than menacing, but its message was the same: here the city governs itself.
Think about the sequence you have now walked through. The king's palace destroyed in 1755, a minister rebuilding the city with ruthless efficiency, a king and his heir shot dead in the great square in 1908, and then, two years later, the monarchy proclaimed over from this balcony. From here, walk north up Rua do Ouro, the old street of the goldsmiths, for a good four hundred metres, until a tall iron tower appears on your left.