Lisbon is known as the city of Seven hills. With so many hills, it would be impossible to go around the city without a car or an elevator. That’s right, Lisbon has many elevators which are a huge help for the city residents, and the Santa Justa lift is one of them. Besides being a huge help, this lift is a one of the greatest example of Portuguese architecture, and a landmark of the city. The lift was designed by Raul Mesnier de Ponsard, a Portuguese apprentice of Gustave Eiffel, the same guy from Eiffel Tower. The iron tower is fabulous from outside and to ride it you only need a normal bus service ticket. The elevator is huge, with lots of wood in its interior and kind of victorian, which would be enough for me, but there is more. I always go insane once I get to the top, thanks to the great panoramic view of the most beautiful part of the city. There are nice stairs to go to the very top, which has also an Italian restaurant, the “Bella Lisa Elevador“, which becomes the “Lift Bar”, a mix of bar and disco, on Thursday and Weekend nights. When I get tired of the view, something that normally never happens, I leave the elevator through the upper exit, which goes straight to the Carmo Archaeological Museum (check the Carmo Archaeological Museum article), my other favourite spot! Details about this spot (Show on map).jpg)
Image by Claudio Carneiro
Santa Justa Lift | Art & culture, Bars, Relaxing, Restaurants | Elevator ride € 3
Rua do Carmo 70 | Chiado & Baixa | +3513613000
Mon – Sat 07:00 – 23:00, Sun 09:00 – 23:00
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Santa Justa Lift – A lift to the sky
Tags: Art & culture, Bars, Chiado & Baixa, lift, Lisbon, local, Relaxing, Restaurants, santa justa, view.
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Hi Keith. It’s a pity you couldn’t go up the top of the elevator. I hope you have a chance to come back and do it. And thanks for the information. I am going to update it.
Just returned from Lisboa and I stopped by the Elevator 3 times and always
at a different time of the day. The stairs up to the cafe/bar above the
Elevator were closed all 3 times. Carris had a sign up that said something about them working on the Santa Justa Elevator until June 2010. Not sure
if I was going at the wrong times or its just closed until June but I was
disappointed that I couldn’t get up there. That was my favorite viewpoint
last time I was here.