I love this place! It is “hidden” at the top floor of the Benetton shop at the beginning of Rua Garrett. Fabrica is the Benetton Group international communications research center (I had to llok it up as well!). This space has an ever-changing variety of design objects, both useful and useless, but always interesting. It displays work of Portuguese artists (as for instance JIMMY styleshop does) and international works. All items are for sale, ofcourse.

Besides this “shop”, half of the space is dedicated to temporary exhibitions. This means that you will always find something new and interesting when you visit (especially compared with Benetton clothes, but that’s a personal opinion).

If you are not one convinced yet: you can step out on one of the small balconies and have a bird’s-eye view of Rua Garrett.

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Fabrica @ Benetton | Art & culture, Shopping
4º andar, Rua Garrett, 83 | Chiado & Baixa | +351213556764
Mon – Sat 10:00 – 08:00

4 exposition rooms, 2 bookstores, 3 shops, a bar, a restaurant, a terrace…. all this is Fábrica Braço de Prata. And I think I still forgot half of it.

This cultural venue is located on the former location of an armaments factory. Swords to ploughs one may say! It’s a bit out of the way (located near the docks, between Santa Apolónia and Expo) and not that known actually.

It’s a very accessible and fun way to sniff some culture. The crowd is young and dynamic. Due to the variety of rooms and bars, there is always something interesting going on. From time to time (in the warm months) there’s a tent outside for concerts.

Listen to a Bossa Nova concerts, see an exposition or just have a drink. Check out the agenda online!

There is also a nice bookstore inside the building.

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Fábrica Braço de Prata | Art & culture, Bars, Music | everything € 5.00
Rua da Fábrica de Material de Guerra | Riverside | +351967435743
Ticket office: Wed – Sat 20:00 – 02:00, Sun 16:00 – 22:00

The Saint George castle is the most enchanted, extraordinary and magical place in Lisbon to be.

From the castle, you have a impressive view over most of Lisbon, and the Tagus river. Every time I visit the castle, I just feel gifted for living in Lisbon and having such a fantastic spot so close by. I can stand hours staring over the city, watching the boats crossing the river, the beautiful city landscape, and figuring out what changed since the last time I was over there. Most of the castle are ruins, but nice ones. And there is the “castelejo”, a small castle inside the castle, where you can wander around the top towers and take tons of nice photos.

Inside the castle there is a nice and fancy restaurant called “Casa do Leão”, plus a pleasant esplanade cafe and a very nice giftshop. I try not to miss the concerts, plays and festivals that every year take place in the castle, normally at night, which highlights even more the beauty of the place.

I confess it’s my favorite Lisbon spot, ever! Some surprises can await you there, as it happened to me. A old lady singing Fado songs to the wind, another girl rehearsing her singing, peacocks… Whenever I go there, I reboot from all my worries and bad feelings. Magic? Probably.

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Saint George’s Castle | Art & culture, Relaxing | Students € 7.50
R. de Santa Cruz do Castelo | Castelo | +351218800620
Nov – Feb 09:00 – 18:00, Mar – Oct 09:00 – 21:00

Mãe D’Água Amoreiras Reservoir is in front of Amoreiras’ Garden, or Amoreiras’ Garden is in front of it. It doesn’t matter. What is worth knowing is that, yet small, this reservoir, called “Mãe D’Água”, translated “Mother of the Water”, is a jewel unknown to tourists. It’s the old city reservoir, not in use anymore. Nowadays it’s open for visitors and for special occasions, such as private parties or an art exhibitions.

The interior is composed of a huge marble squared room, with for central columns and a also huge pool with clear and transparent water. On hot days I almost feel like jumping in the water. I just wished they would let me!

There is also a beautiful ancient fountain from where the aqueduct water arrives. You can go up the fountain and have a gorgeous view to the reservoir. And continuing on the stairs you can reach the roof, where the view is as gorgeous as inside. You can have a wonderful view around the city and witness the aqueduct from a different angle.

It’s a Water Temple, for meditation, for dazzle and for fun!

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Mãe D’Água Amoreiras Reservoir | Art & culture, Relaxing | Entrance € 2.50
Praça das Amoreiras 10 | Estrela | +351213251644
Mon – Sat 10:00 – 18:00

If I have some favorite spots that keep moving, those would be the funiculars, trams and lifts of Lisbon. I have already talked about the Santa Justa Lift (see the Santa Justa Lift article). This time I am going to talk about my other favourite, the Lavra funicular. I usually get this one when I want to visit Torel Garden (see Torel Garden article) or go to “Campo Martires da Patria”, two nice gardens up on its hill. Not only, since the area at the top end of Lavra really provides a nice walk.

The Lavra funicular may be not so fun to ride, but it is the most charming, and certainly it is the most quiet (often private!) public transport in Lisbon. It’s very large inside, with long wooden seats and metal wheels that transport me way back in history. This is the oldest transport in Lisbon, with more than 120 years and also considered a national monument.

This is one of the four Lisbon Lifts that takes you over Lisbon’s hills, the others being Gloria, Santa Justa and Bica. I have talked about my favourites, but actually I love them all.

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Lavra Funicular | Art & culture, Relaxing | 2 rides € 3.50
Rua das Portas de Santo Antão 150 | Liberdade
Mon – Sat 07:00 – 21:00, Sun 09:00 – 21:00

Nothing can be compared to the feeling I had the first time I went into Sao Domingos Church. I felt like I was out-of-place, out-of-time, but at the same time I felt in the right place and timeless.

This church is different from the others due to the fact that it suffered a huge fire in 1954, where all the interior ornaments and tapestry were completely burned down. What was left was only the naked colourful marble on the walls and the unrecognizable marble statues. In a very strange resolution, the church was never reconstructed entirely, so it shows all its opened bruises with such an honesty that surprises us completely. They only painted the ceiling in a pastel color, kind of orange, which reminds even more of a Greek or Italian classical temple.

The church is as old as Lisboa’s Cathedral, its contruction started in 1241. Unfortunately most parts were destroyed in the 1755 earthquake, and it was rebuilt after with some leftovers from other destroyed buildings. A very important one is the entrance portal and balcony, that came from the old Royal Palace, “The Ribeira Palace”.

This church is special and it’s worth a visit even if you are a non-religious person, or of a different religion. Whatever your beliefs are, I doubt you will be indifferent when entering this church, One never is.

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São Domingos Church | Art & culture | Free
Largo de São Domingos, 5 | Chiado & Baixa | +351213428275
07:30 – 19:00 daily

The museum, or site, is located below a bank building, the Millenium BCP. Thanks to some restoration work they started in the 90′s, they discovered this whole underneath remains of more than 2500 years of the city history, and even greater, they decided to save it for city history’s sake. In a whole block, under the building, you can witness Lisbon Visigothic, Islamic, Roman, Medieval and Pombaline history.

I arrived in Lisbon in early 2000, and it took me almost three years to find out about this spot, thanks to a great friend of mine who got me a night visit. Before that I used to cross Rua Augusta and stop in front of the Bank windows to stare at the museum articles they have on display, but foolishly never imagined there was really a museum inside there.

Worse, I never imagined there were galleries under the building. It is actually a criptoportico, and it is a very nice visit. They even have an unidentified skeleton around there, that moves constantly where the caves flood. Besides the Bank site, the only other opportunity to see the criptoportico is once in a year, when the fireman close rua da conceição to open the only other access to it.

The Lisbon Baixa neighbourhood is full of surprises, and I consider this spot one of many good ones!

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Rua dos Correeiros | Art & culture | Free
Rua dos Correeiros, nº 9 r/c | Chiado & Baixa | +35121211700
Thu 15:00 – 17:00, Sat 10:00 – 13:00 & 15:00 – 17:00

Let´s say I have a birthday dinner somewhere in Bairro Alto. And I had the busiest day and hadn’t have any time to buy a present. No problem, now we have Bairro Arte to solve our lack of gift-shops during nightlife.

Bairro Arte, besides being a gift shop, is also an art gallery. It’s an art gallery like any other, but as any other art gallery it’s unique by nature. Nevertheless, one thing Bairro Arte can’t be called is a simple gift-shop, for each thing they sell is very exclusive and original.

I feel like being in a shop in Barcelona when I enter the shop, because the stuff they sell is creative and colorful as Barcelona is. For example, they have marble tiles with nice and fun paintings, giant kangaroos statues for our living room, puffs in shape of balls, trendy bags and many things more.

The building where Bairro Arte is installed is a very nice example itself of Lisbon old architecture and a well-restored building. And it has a very picturesque and outstanding chimney. The entrance is in the middle of the building, which divides the room for the shop and the room for the art gallery. I always take more time on the shop side. Shame on me!

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Bairro Arte | Art & culture, Shopping | Free
Rua das Salgadeiras, 5 | Bairro Alto | +351910571594
Mon – Fri 16:00 – 01:00, Sat – Mon 14:00 – 01:00

This museum is one of a kind. It houses the greatest world collection of royal coaches, dating from 17th Century to late 19th Century. The building itself is a “must see”, since it is in the old Royal Riding Arena of Belem Palace. The museum is also one of the most visited museum in Lisbon. But even with all this publicity, I hear from a lot of people that don’t visit it. Shame on them!

When you enter you realize you have entered a special place. I like to spend a long time just staring up to the graceful roof paintings,or on the second floor, where the view over the museum is tantalizing. But the museum is about the royal coaches, so let me talk about them. Most of them are very well preserved, and some of them are a complete luxury, golden covered and decorated with huge detailed sculptures.

While the first and larger room is well organized, where the coaches are put chronologicaly, the last room is too packed and you barely can walk around the coaches. That is the main reason there are current plans to move the museum to a new and larger building. It’s a very controversy change, but I think it’s necessary, since there are a lot of coaches that aren’t in the museum simply because there is no space. If they preserve the actual building for visiting, I think it’s fine.

Tip: Free on Sunday till 14:00

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National Coach Museum | Art & culture | Adults € 3.00
Praça Afonso de Albuquerque | Riverside | +351213610850
Tue – Sun 10:00 – 18:00

In 1755, Lisbon suffered a huge earthquake. Because of that, only a few medieval buildings survived. One barely survived, but was left exactly as it remained after the destruction, as a symbol of loss and hope. The Carmo Convent, built in 1389, once a gorgeous and unique Gothic church in Lisbon, and nowadays an open air museum, with huge marble columns and stones that contrasts magically with Lisbon blue sky, is the perfect attraction by itself. A very peaceful place, right in the heart of Chiado. It’s a good place to spend some hours visiting, and sometimes I have been there only to read a book or only rest for a while.

The important thing is that a visitor, or a local, cannot miss it, not only for the testimonial of Lisbon History, but also for its great archaeological museum, which hosts prehistorical, roman, medieval and pre-earthquake finds. Even two Peruvian mummy’s are there. Once you enter, you will be enchanted by the view of the nave of the church. I always am!

If you are lucky enough, or just an organized person, you can get an open air concert or watch a play in this gorgeous site. Sometimes paid, but most of times free entrance for both spectacle and museum. Last time I was there I attended two wonderful choir concerts for free.

It’s a place to go in a sunny day, and once you get there, it’s impossible not to be astounded!

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Carmo Archaeological Museum | Art & culture, Relaxing | Adults € 2.50
Largo do Carmo | Chiado & Baixa | +351213460473
Mon – Sat 10:00 – 17:00/18:00 (Oct to Apr)