Sara (sarathemenace.multiply.com)

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Oct 1, '05 10:50 PM
for everyone

In 1771 during the rebuilding of the city of Lisbon, after the Earthquake of 1755 (which destroyed the whole city), there were for the first time, reports of the existence of Roman Galleries underneath downtown Lisbon.

The architecture and building techniques of these Galleries suggest it to be a monument from the Julius-Claudius Emperors period (first half of the century I bc), contemporary of other public buildings of the roman city of Olisipo. These ruins have been, since their discovery, subjected to many interpretations, from Spas to Municipal Forums. Nowadays, their purpouse is known to be related to harbour and commerce activities, as storage space.

In between Roman times and the Lisbon Earthquake of 1755, cracks opened up in all walls, allowing water to fill through these Galleries. It turned out that, despite its proximity to river Tagus, the Galleries were filled with drinkable water. After being discovered, this water was taken out through water holes and used to help the population, over 200 years ago, throughout an alarming period of water shortage supply in city, which had already originated violent deaths and attacks.

These ruins are still, up until today, covered in water and drained only once a year, with around-the-clock water pumps, so they can be opened to the public. I guess these Galleries may not seem an amazing thing to look at, or that great a discovery, but I find it very fascinating that they're only seen once a year and that one walks about downtown without realising what's underneath us...

(I nicked some pics of Dunis, my ex-fiancé-slash-never-to-be-hubby-slash-currently-platonically-divorced-of-me, cos his were much better than mine. Bigada kido ;)

entrance
1 Comment

going down

gallery

gallery
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gallery

still plenty of water

water
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water

more water

water

cracks

water holes
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stairs

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eppp wrote on Oct 1, '05

I find this fascinating. The world underneath the world.

I must show these pictures to my son in the morning. He would be very interested. He is fascinated by history - especially if it can be touched - and anything Roman catches his attention. Portugal has such a wealth of history!

It is interesting that the earthquake ended up helping people. A meaningful coincidence?

sarathemenace wrote on Oct 1, '05

eppp said

It is interesting that the earthquake ended up helping people.

Not so helpful, petal.

The Earthquake of 1755 caused a tsunami to evolve, which in turn killed around 90 thousand people in Lisbon, a third of the population of the capital city at the time, thousands of dead people in the Algarve (shouthern coast) and in Andaluzia, Spain, 35 thousand dead in Cadiz and in Morocco, having had consequences throughtout the whole Mediterranean coast...

Besides all that, Lisbon had to be rebuilt from scratch (which in my eyes, is one of the reasons for its uniqueness).

Perhaps not to so helpful. I'd say though, it made its ammends :)

eppp wrote on Oct 2, '05

Another (sad) piece of interesting history. No, not so helpful at all. :-(

eppp wrote on Oct 2, '05

All right, then. I showed the photos to my son. He practically wanted to climb into the computer to see more. He asks if there are more chambers or galleries and how much more is there beyond what was in the photos. That if he were there, could he go and explore even more and further... and what were the galleries used for and did they find any old objects, and, and, and...

I had no answers, of course. But I am grateful that you posted these photos. It is wonderful to see my son be so enthusiastic and excited.

:-)

sarathemenace wrote on Oct 4, '05

Dear Eppp, sorry for the delay. To the point...

The galleries being shown are indeed very few, and they're about as much as I've put here. The thing is, this is underneath downtown Lisbon. Professionals are not allowed to go further in their quest, least they ruin the sewer conduits running throughout the city, besides bringing down the city in itself. Actually, it was during the sanitation works being done in 1859 that these ruins finally got to be observed and drawn up, one of the very first archaeological works undertaken in Lisbon.

Supposedly (cos one's never sure on such lack of info), these galleries were to store merchandise, coming to and from the Lisbon harbour. There had been plenty of doubts about these being the remains of a roman spa, because of one stone evocative of Aesculapius, the God of Medicine. Recent information states that this was a criptoportic: arched constructions, used frequently in unstable pieces of land to create a platform from which to build from, either temples, porticoes, or other public buildings.

No old objects were found, which further sustains the theory that this wasn't a building to be shown to the public. This can also be acknowledged by other bits of info, such as, some chambers were too low to stand tall, plus, as our historian guide told us, the Galleries were just too simple in its arches and final outlook to ever be seen by the public. Apparently not in character with the Roman rulers ;-)

Portugal, and I quite believe, the whole of Europe, northern Africa and middle East, must have ruins such as these and other traces of the Roman Empire as well, since Rome was indeed rather extensive (map).

The building where I used to work in before, an old government building in downtown Lisbon, underwent restoration work which had to be stopped. Archaeologists had to be brought in. All sorts of objects had been found, as well as arches, a well, a double wall running vertically through the whole building (which purpouse is not know yet). Curiously enough, they've came to the conclusion that over 2000 years ago, that same building had been a prison, having kept that same function up until 30 years ago. Over 2000 years after...

That's why I'm so interested in my past and legacy, so I can understand my present better :) Hope I could be of service, if not, just holler!

eppp wrote on Oct 6, '05

You are very generous with the information, sarathemenace. Thank you! I appreciate this, as does my son. The map was a welcome addition. :-)

Fascinating, the story of the prison. I wonder what kind of energy there is in that vicinity as a result. That is a lot of history. It must have left some trace on the aura of the place.

Yes, the past is important in that way. As long as one does not get tangled and tripped by it (as has been my case regarding certain things).

suelisol wrote on Oct 30, '05

i haven't been lisbon, 'cause my time was short, maybe i'll go next year, i want to go to fatima also. your pics are very beatiful.

sarathemenace wrote on Nov 2, '05

Thank you.

Although, if you plan on seeing Lisbon, you need time ;-)

eversilva wrote on Dec 12, '05

Adorei este album ... um mergulho na história de Portugal ...
Muito interessante mesmo ...
Valeu ! :o)

thedudeoforkut wrote on Mar 25, '06

You had to go into the sewers?

yuka10 wrote on Jun 20, '06

interesting pic!!

soze17 wrote on Jun 29, '06

Hi, I am going to Lisbon this summer and I am wondering where exactly the entrance to these ruins is and how can I find out when they are open. Thank You.

John.