Ascensor da Glória
The Glória Funicular, sometimes known as the Elevador da Glória, is a funicular railway line in the civil parish of Santo António, in the municipality of Lisbon, Portugal. It connects the Pombaline downtown with the Bairro Alto, operated by Carris. Although described as a funicular, technically it does not qualify as the traction is not provided by the cable but by electric motors on the two cars; the cable links the two cars together so that they ascend and descend simultaneously. In 1875, a concession authorized the Nova Companhia dos Ascensores Mecânicos de Lisboa to construct a tram along the Calçada da Glória; this concession was donated to engineer Raoul Mesnier du Ponsard in 1882. The final lift was inaugurated on 24 October 1885, propelled by a water-powered counterweight system, replaced with a steam-powered mechanism by 1886; the track included two cars with exterior wheels, a central cable, held by protective shoes. The interior was divided into two floors, with two bunks on the lower facing the interior and two on the superior back-to-back.
In 1912, the Nova Companhia dos Ascensores Mecânicos de Lisboa signed with the Municipal Council of Lisbon a contract that allowed them to electrify the lines. These repairs and installations occurred before returning to operation. In 1926, the Nova Companhia dos Ascensores Mecânicos de Lisboa was dissolved, the funicular became a property of the Companhia Carris; as part of the change, in 1927, a shelter was inaugurated for passengers, constructed along the Praça dos Restauradores, contested. It was demolished in 1934. On 1 August 1995, Carris presented a proposal to classify the line as a heritage site, to which the IPPAR consultative council proposed the classification of the tram as a National Monument on 11 March 1997. A dispatch on 9 April 1997 ordered the approval by the Minister of Culture; the DRLisboa proposed the expansion of the classification a building on Travessa do Fala-Só and rectification of the law, approved on 7 January 2003 by IPPAR. The tram system is situated in an urban area, along an axis that slopes 17.7%, that extends from the Avenida da Liberdade to the Rua de São Pedro de Alcântara, crossing a built-up area of 19th century buildings, including the Palácio Foz and the Misericórdia of Lisboa.
The funicular includes two cars that operate parallel along two axes, that descend and climb simultaneously. The trams are inclined to allow patrons to maintain a level perspective, with seats oriented longitudinally. Ascensor da Bica List of funicular railways O Occidente, VIII, 1885 Capitão, Maria Amélia Motta, Subsídios para a História dos Transportes Terrestres em Lisboa no Século XIX, Portugal Larange, José, O Ascensor da Glória. Lisboa, CCFL Larange, José, O Ascensor da Glória. Lisboa, O Livro da Carris
Casa dos Bicos
The Casa dos Bicos is a historical house in the civil parish of Santa Maria Maior, in the Portuguese municipality of Lisbon. The house, built in the early 16th century in the Alfama neighbourhood, has a curious façade of spikes, influenced by Italian Renaissance palaces and Portuguese Manueline styles, it survived the disastrous 1755 Lisbon earthquake that destroyed much of the city, but over time was abandoned as a residence and used as a warehouse. After a 20th-century renovation, it became the headquarters of the José Saramago Foundation; the historical record indicates that as of 1506, Afonso de Albuquerque, the first governor of Portuguese India, had buildings in the area, if not ownership of the lands. In 1521, Albuquerque travelled to Italy in the company of the Infanta Beatrice, Duchess of Savoy, spent some years there, where he observed the new trends in Renaissance architecture; the young Albuquerque, a courtier recognized for his humanist cultural leanings, was responsible for the construction of the Quinta da Bacalhôa.
It is presumed that he was influenced by urban palaces such as the Palazzo dei Diamanti, so called in reference to its façade made up of thousands of small diamond-shaped pyramids. Between 1521 and 1523, Albuquerque returned to Portugal, began work on this Casa dos Diamantes, incorporating Manueline windows and portals, but died in 1581. Between 1620 and 1642, after a protracted period of litigation within the family, the house passed into the hands of João Afonso de Albuquerque; the building was still in the possession of his heirs, the Menezes e Albuquerque family, when the 1755 Lisbon earthquake caused significant damage to the residence. It destroyed the principal façade, two floors along the Rua dos Bacalhoeiros, it is unclear whether or not the building was reconstructed following this period, but by 1772 the building was reconstructed, but the 15th century structure had been profoundly restructured. In 1827, Francisco Menezes e Albuquerque, owing to debts, allowed the house to be sold at public auction.
It was sold to Caetano Lopes da Silva, a fishmonger a renter in the home. In 1838 the residence was returned to the Albuquerque family by a judicial decision. In 1873, the 11th and last Duke of Albuquerque, owing to debts, sold the building to another fishmonger, Joaquim C. Lopes da Silva, who began using the building as a warehouse for salted codfish; the building remained in private hands until the 1960s, when it was acquired by the municipal council of Lisbon. The council commissioned architect Raul Lino to adapt the Casa dos Bicos known as the Casa de Goa, for use as a museum; the project was still unrealized by 1979, passed to architects José Daniel Santa-Rita Fernandes and Manuel Vicente. Once again, the project was never completed, in 1982, the commissioner for the 18th European Art and Culture Exposition commissioned António Marques Miguel to restore and adapt the spaces for the event; the restoration began under the guidance of the Direcção-Geral de Edifícios e Monumentos Nacionais. A team of archeologists began systematic excavations at the construction site, revealing remains from the Roman and Moorish periods.
The two floors destroyed during the 1755 earthquake were restored, using the pre-1755 drawings and paintings. In the following year, architect António Marques Miguel was responsible for restoration of the windows and façade. Following the public works, it became one of the nuclei of the European Art and Cultural Exposition, exhibiting paintings of the Avis dynastic family. On 22 August 2006, the Direção Regional de Cultura de Lisboa incorporated the building in the Special Protection Zone that included the Pombaline downtown area, as well as the Castle of São Jorge, its walls and surrounding buildings; the Conselho Nacional de Cultura proposed that the Special Protection Zone should be archived on 10 October 2011, on 18 October asked the director of the Instituto de Gestão do Património Arquitectónico e Arqueológico to define a new Special Protection Zone. In June 2012, the Casa dos Bicos became the head office of the José Saramago Foundation, whose statutes were updated to reflect its new status as a public foundation, by an agreement with the Lisbon city council.
The foundation opened a permanent exhibition titled The Seed and the Fruits about the life and public works of José Saramago. Other cultural events are presented in the building, including book releases, minor theater plays and debates; the Casa dos Bicos is situated along the northern side of the urban area, contiguous with other buildings and identifiable by the surface treatment of its façade. It is a rectangular building of four floors, with a tiled roof; the principal façade, to the south, is decorated in diamond-shape protrusions. The floors are demarcated by frames; the first and second floors are framed by windows in stonework. On the second floor are four rectangular windows of varying dimensions and asymmetrical distribution; the third and fourth floors are marked by windows of varying dimensions and asymmetrical placement, using stylized single and triple rounded windows. Two styles of windows prevail on these floors: simple rounded-arch windows (a triple-frame on the third floor and two d
Café A Brasileira
The Café A Brasileira is a café at 120 Rua Garrett, in civil parish of Sacramento, near the Baixa-Chiado metro stop and close to the University. One of the oldest and most famous cafés in the old quarter of Lisbon, that ensures constant activity, the shop was open by Adrian Telles to import and sell Brazilian coffee in the 19th century a rarity in the households of Lisbon. Over time the space has been the meeting point for intellectuals, artists and free-thinkers, weathering financial difficulties and becoming a tourist attraction, as much as another coffee-shop. During the middle of the 19th century, the Hotel Borges is founded along the Travessa de Estevão Galhardo, in the proximity of the Hotel Universal; the space is successively operated within the upper floors of the building, while a shop functioned on the main floor. In 1868, Elie Bénard inaugurated a small bakery along Rua Garret at no. 104-106, while the Grande Hotel Borges continues to operate under its proprietor António Borges Areias.
The A Brasileira was opened by Adriano Telles on 19 November 1905 at No.122, to sell "genuine Brazilian coffee" from the State of Minas Gerais, a product unappreciated in homes of Lisboetas of that period. In order to promote his product, Telles offered each shopper, who bought a kilogram of ground coffee, a free cup of coffee, it was the first shop to sell a small cup of strong coffee, similar to espresso. The founder, who lived in Brazil and imported his products, had no problem in importing coffee, tapioca, tea, flour, in addition to wine and olive oils. In 1907 the owner of A Brasileira opened a similar establishment in the Café A Brasileira. In 1908, the Brasileira was remodelled by Manuel Joaquim Norte Júnior in order to provide a café, again in 1922, to re-orient the business model in order to sell drinks, in addition to coffee, its redesign, completed by architect José Pacheco, was completed in the Art Deco-style, with a green and gold entrance, an interior that included mirrored walls, brass fittings, a long, oak bar and wooden booths.
With the establishment of the First Portuguese Republic, its associated liberties, the installation of the Directório in the Largo de São Carlos the Brasileira became a transited café. It was during the nascent Republic that numerous intellectuals and literary writers began to walk through its doors. United by the poet-General Henrique Rosa, many of the literary figures would help to establish the magazine Orpheu. Between 1950-1960 the Brasileira was in risk of closing permanently. By 1993, the café had weathered its mid-century financial problems, had applied for funds from the Lisboa 94 Capital Europeia da Cultura program to remodel and restore the building; the building is a narrow, two-floor rectangular plan, with a front façade that includes the establishment name A Brasileira and respective address number. The narrow façade with a differentiated decoration, includes many polychromatic elements: an arched cement façade with inlaid windows. Below the boilerplate, in relief, is the figure of a man taking a coffee, surrounded by curvilinear flourishments.
The long narrow hall includes mosaicked floors in alternating marble tiles, a roof with ornamental friezes and square pillars along the walls decorated in sculpted wood. The room itself is painted in ochres and reds, with brass fixtures intermingling with sculpted red woods. Between the pillars are mirrors, while at the far end of the café is a clock encased in a wooden decoration; the counter, is located on the right wall of the entranceway, while a staircase provides access to the kitchen located in the basement. It was a favored haunt of intellectuals and academics, including Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa, the writers Aquilino Ribeiro and Alfredo Pimenta. Fernando Pessoa would enjoy absinthe and a sweet bica, while he continuously smoked, read or wrote. Over its storied history and because of the initiative of José Pacheco, the walls of the Brasileira collected prominent paintings from artists. In 1925, the Brasileira began to exhibit the paintings of the new generation of Portuguese painters, that frequented the café: José de Almada Negreiros, António Soares, Eduardo Viana, Jorge Barradas, Bernardo Marques, José Pacheko and Stuart Carvalhais.
These works were sold to one buyer in 1969. This "museum" was renovated in 1971, with new paintings from painters of the epoch: António Palolo, Carlos Calvet, Eduardo Nery, Fernando Azevedo, João Hogan, João Vieira, Joaquim Rodrigo, Manuel Baptista, Nikias Skapinakis, Noronha da Costa and Vespeira. A bronze statue of Fernando Pessoa, by sculptor Lagoa Henriques, was placed outside the café in 1988 though Pessoa considered the Café Martinho da Arcada (on the Praça do Comércio, as his favorite café; the University of Lisbon's Faculdade de Belas-Artes is located within the Chiado district, its 1300 students transit the quarter competing with tourists for open-air tables. Notes SourcesFitch, Noël Riley; the Grand Literary Cafés of Europe. London, England: New Holland Publishers Ltd. ISBN 1-84537-114-3. Buck, Paul
Berardo Collection Museum
The Berardo Collection Museum is a museum of modern and contemporary art in Belém, a district of Lisbon, Portugal. The museum was initiated as the Foundation of Modern and Contemporary Art on August 9, 2006, it is named after José Berardo and his Berardo Collection. The museum is located at the Exhibition Center of the Centro Cultural de Belém, with a collection comprising over 1000 works of art on permanent display and temporary exhibitions. From its opening until April 2011, the museum's art director was Jean-François Chougnet, replaced by Pedro Lapa; the programming of the museum is guided by the rotation of various artistic movements that integrate the collection of works from the collection valued by the auction house Christie's at €316 million. The museum's collection is representative of the fine arts of the 20th century and early 21st century European and American art; the collection covers major movements from surrealism to pop art, hyper-realism, minimalist art to conceptual art, presented in various media.
It covers Portuguese contemporary art in particular. The museum has an extensive permanent collection and hosts temporary exhibitions that change on a regular basis. Philip Guston, Untitled, 1957 Joan Mitchell, Lucky Seven, 1962 Lee Krasner, Visitation, 1973 Sam Francis, Untitled, 1979 Willem de Kooning, Untitled, c. 1976 Georges Vantongerloo, SXR/3, 1936 Jackson Pollock, Head, 1941 Franz Kline, Sabro, 1956 Cindy Sherman, Untitled, 1979 El Lissitzky, Kestnermappe Proun, Rob. Levnis and Chapman GmbH Hannover, 1923 Aleksandr Rodtsjenko, Portrait V. Majakowski, 1924 Albert Gleizes and Child, 1927 Pablo Picasso, Tête de Femme, c.1909 Vilmos Huszár, Untitled, 1924 Georges Vantongerloo, Studies I, 1918 Robert Silvers, JFK, 5/6, 2002 Ana Hatherly, O Pavão Negro, 1999 Nadir Afonso, Marcoule, 1962 Pol Bury, Mélangeur, 1961 Alexander Calder, Black Spray, 1956 Jean Tinguely, Indian Chief, 1961 Carl Andre, 144th Travertine Integer, 1985 Richard Artschwager, Trunk, 1964 Larry Bell, Vertical Gradient on the Long Length, 1995 Anthony Caro, Fleet, 1971 Dan Flavin, Untitled, 1964 Ellsworth Kelly, Yellow Relief with Blue, 1991 Sol LeWitt, Eight Sided Pyramid, 1992 Richard Serra, Point Load, 1988 Frank Stella, Hagamatana II, 1967 Georg Baselitz, Blonde ohne Stahlhelm- Otto D. 1987 Anselm Kiefer, Elisabeth von Österreich, 1991 Piet Mondrian, Composition of Yellow, Black and Grey, 1923 Mário Dionísio, O Músico, 1948 Bridget Riley, Orient IV, 1970 Victor Vasarely, Bellatrix II, 1957 Pepe Diniz, various works Jemima Stehli, various works Manuel Casimiro, Cidade 1, 1972 Victor Palla, various works Tom Blackwell, Gary's Hustler, 1972 Robert Cottingham, Dr. Gibson, 1971 Don Eddy, Toyota Showroom Window I, 1972 Clive Barker, Fridge, 1999 Peter Blake, Captain Webb Matchbox, 1962 Jim Dine, Black Child's Room, 1962 Richard Hamilton, Epiphany, 1989 David Hockney, Picture Emphasizing Stillness, 1962 Edward Kienholz, Drawing for the Soup Course at The She She Cafe, 1982 Phillip King, Through, 1965 Roy Lichtenstein, Interior with Restful Paintings, 1991 Nicholas Monro,???
Claes Oldenburg, Soft Light Switches'Ghost' Version, 1963 Sigmar Polke, Bildnis Helmut Klinker, 1965 Mel Ramos, Virnaburger, 1965 James Rosenquist, F-111, 1974 George Segal, Flesh Nude behind Brown Door, 1978 Andy Warhol, Campbell's Soup en various other works, 1965 Evelyne Axell, L'Oeil de la Tigresse, 1964 Mark Lancaster, various works Philip Sylvio Pearlstein, Two Figures, 1963 Kasimir Malevich, Suprematism: 34 Drawings, 1920 Ljoebov Popova, various compositions Eileen Agar, Snake Charmer, 1936 Hans Bellmer, La Toupie, 1956 Salvador Dalí, White Aphrodisiac Telephone, 1936 Julio González, Femme au Miroir Rouge, Vert et Jaune, 1936 André Masson, Eleusis, 1963 Pablo Picasso, Femme dans un Fauteuil, 1929 Man Ray, Café Man Ray, 1948 Paule Vézelay, Les Ballons et les Vases, 1934 Paul Delvaux, Le Bain des Dames chez George Grard, 1947 Fernando Lemos, various works Admission is 5€ to visit some of the temporary exhibitions it may be necessary to purchase a ticket. The museum is located in the Cultural Centrum of Belém, being the center of the modern cultural life of Lisbon.
Across the street, is the Mosteiro dos Jerónimos. Museu Colecção Berardo, Portuguese Wikipedia. Museu Colecção Berardo website The Berardo Collection website
Portuguese Empire
The Portuguese Empire known as the Portuguese Overseas or the Portuguese Colonial Empire, was one of the largest and longest-lived empires in world history. It existed for six centuries, from the capture of Ceuta in 1415, to the handover of Portuguese Macau to China in 1999; the empire began in the 15th century, from the early 16th century it stretched across the globe, with bases in North and South America and various regions of Asia and Oceania. The Portuguese Empire has been described as the first global empire in history, a description given to the Spanish Empire; the Portuguese Empire originated at the beginning of the Age of Discovery, the power and influence of the Kingdom of Portugal would expand across the globe. In the wake of the Reconquista, Portuguese sailors began exploring the coast of Africa and the Atlantic archipelagos in 1418–19, using recent developments in navigation and maritime technology such as the caravel, with the aim of finding a sea route to the source of the lucrative spice-trade.
In 1488 Bartolomeu Dias rounded the Cape of Good Hope, in 1498 Vasco da Gama reached India. In 1500, either by an accidental landfall or by the crown's secret design, Pedro Álvares Cabral discovered Brazil on the South American coast. Over the following decades, Portuguese sailors continued to explore the coasts and islands of East Asia, establishing forts and factories as they went. By 1571 a string of naval outposts connected Lisbon to Nagasaki along the coasts of Africa, the Middle East and South Asia; this commercial network and the colonial trade had a substantial positive impact on Portuguese economic growth, when it accounted for about a fifth of Portugal's per-capita income. When King Philip II of Spain inherited the Portuguese crown in 1580 there began a 60-year union between Spain and Portugal known to subsequent historiography as the Iberian Union; the realms continued to have separate administrations. As the King of Spain was King of Portugal, Portuguese colonies became the subject of attacks by three rival European powers hostile to Spain: the Dutch Republic and France.
With its smaller population, Portugal found itself unable to defend its overstretched network of trading posts, the empire began a long and gradual decline. Brazil became the most valuable colony of the second era of empire, until, as part of the wave of independence movements that swept the Americas during the early 19th century, it broke away in 1822; the third era of empire covers the final stage of Portuguese colonialism after the independence of Brazil in the 1820s. By the colonial possessions had been reduced to forts and plantations along the African coastline, Portuguese Timor, enclaves in India and China; the 1890 British Ultimatum led to the contraction of Portuguese ambitions in Africa. Under António Salazar, the Second Portuguese Republic made some ill-fated attempts to cling on to its last remaining colonies. Under the ideology of Pluricontinentalism, the regime renamed its colonies "overseas provinces" while retaining the system of forced labour, from which only a small indigenous élite was exempt.
In 1961 India annexed Goa and Dahomey annexed Fort of São João Baptista de Ajudá. The Portuguese Colonial War in Africa lasted from 1961 until the final overthrow of the Estado Novo regime in 1974; the so-called Carnation Revolution of April 1974 in Lisbon led to the hasty decolonization of Portuguese Africa and to the 1975 annexation of Portuguese Timor by Indonesia. Decolonization prompted the exodus of nearly all the Portuguese colonial settlers and of many mixed-race people from the colonies. Portugal returned Macau to China in 1999; the only overseas possessions to remain under Portuguese rule, the Azores and Madeira, both had overwhelmingly Portuguese populations, Lisbon subsequently changed their constitutional status from "overseas provinces" to "autonomous regions". The origin of the Kingdom of Portugal lay in the reconquista, the gradual reconquest of the Iberian peninsula from the Moors. After establishing itself as a separate kingdom in 1139, Portugal completed its reconquest of Moorish territory by reaching Algarve in 1249, but its independence continued to be threatened by neighbouring Castile until the signing of the Treaty of Ayllón in 1411.
Free from threats to its existence and unchallenged by the wars fought by other European states, Portuguese attention turned overseas and towards a military expedition to the Muslim lands of North Africa. There were several probable motives for their first attack, on the Marinid Sultanate, it offered the opportunity to continue the Christian crusade against Islam. In 1415 an attack was made on Ceuta, a strategically located North African Muslim enclave along the Mediterranean Sea, one of the terminal ports of the trans-Saharan gold and slave trades; the conquest was a military success, marked one of the first steps in Portuguese expansion beyond the Iberian Peninsula, but it proved costly to defend against the Muslim forces that soon besieged it. The Portuguese were unable to use it as a base for further expansion into the hinterland, the trans-Saharan caravans shifted their routes to bypass Ceuta and/or used alternative Muslim ports. Although Ceuta proved to be a disappointment for the Portuguese
Casa-Museu Dr. Anastácio Gonçalves
The Museum-Residence Dr. Anastácio Gonçalves is a residence converted to museum theatre, located in the civil parish of Avenidas Novas, in the municipality and Portuguese capital of Lisbon. In 1904, José Victor Branco Malhoa petition the municipal authority of Lisbon to construct a residence and atelier, based on a project by Manuel Joaquim Norte Júnior; the March 1904 project was given to construtor Frederico Augusto Ribeiro, what was known as the Lar-Oficina Pro-Arte. As part of the late-18th century electicism, the design crossed many decorative elements of the Art Nouveau, that were brought into the Portuguese residence from the Parisian school; the building suffered various alterations over time, since November 1904, with inclusion of a secondary floor and basement. The serene modernity of the home was appreciated by José Malhoa, who craved the Prémio Valmor, an award that would be attributed to him; the final design won a Prémio Valmor in 1905, composed of a jury that included José Luís Monteiro, José Alexandre Soares and Arnaldo Redondo Adães Bermudes.
The home was placed for sale, following the death of his wife in 1919, when Malhoa moved to a home in Praça da Alegria. Between 1919 and 1932, the house new two new propertyowners, including merhcant Dionísio Vasques, before being acquired by the oftalmologist Dr. Anastácio Gonçalves, a great collector of artworks. At his death, the house and all its artefacts were left to the State. Title was transferred to the State in 1967, it was only in 1971 when a commission was setup to inventory and select artworks from the home for redistribution to museums and sale. After incorporated by the State, in 1969, work on the home was undertaken, until it was classified as a Property of Public Interest. In 1980, the home was reopened to the public as museum. In 1987, with plans to expand the MAG, work began on remodelling the old Casa António Pinto da Fonseca Mota with objective of merging it with the Casa Malhoa, it was transferred to the Instituto Português de Museus. The contiguous building was annexed in 1996 to museum, undertaken by Frederico and Pedro George, in order to expand the surface area and establish a shop and spaces for temporary expositions.
On 29 March 2007, the property was transferred to the Instituto dos Museus e Conservação, I. P.. The building is situated a corner of a residential block, with walled garden near the Maternidade Dr. Alfredo da Costa; the plan is an irregular 2-story design comprises articulated volumes in tiled roof. Its exterior design includes various irregular fenestrations on differentiated facades that are duplicated in the lateral and rear faces. On the first floor of the central corp are four rectangular windows, while the second floor includes one large window on corbels with iron grating. Above the curved window, with three accented voussoirs and crowned by a rectanuglar block and tabulature. Below the window is a platform on six corbels with ironwork; the lateral left wing, recessed from the main facade, includes a staircase access to the principal rectangular door. On the second floor of this wing are small windows with stone bows. Corbels support protruding eaves; the lateral right wing, light protruding, includes a rounded corner window with accented voussoir, supporting the a corbel for the upper window.
This second floor includes. This wing is crowned by gable roof with accented voussoir. A frieze of azulejo mark the division between the first and second floors on various registers of the facades, consisting of blue and white figures and floral patterns. In the rear some in yellow; the central body is crowned by azulejo frieze with white PROARTE plaque. On the lateral right facade is a 45 azulejo tiles with the following inscription lined with artistic border: CASA MALHOA / PREMIO VALMOR / 1905 / ARCHITECTO NORTE JUNIOR; this is the unique azulejo reference that hihglights the Prémio Valmor award. Sculptures on the facade are by António Augusto Costa Mota, while all the ironworks were forged by Norte Júnior and executed by the carpenter Vicente Joaquim Esteves, with several masonic elements. Inside the building, the furniture and decorative pieces are arrange as a residential home. All the furniture and artefacts are consistent with the 17th-18th century style, punctuated by Portuguese natural wall art and collection of Chinese porcelain.
On the second floor, in the area used as the former-atelier, is a window with fabulous window with vegetal decoraton in the Arte Nova. Similar to the external decorative elements tha unify the house the internal structures are defined by azuelejo friezes, transposed to fresco paintings by João Eloy Amaral; the Casa Museu Dr. Anastácio-Gonçalves on Google Arts & Culture Construção Moderna, 1905 Architectura Portuguesa, 1909 Annuarioda Sociedade dos Arquitectos Portugueses, 1906 Bairrada, Eduardo Martins, Prémio Valmor 1902 - 1952, Portugal Revista Máxima (Au
Ascensor da Bica
The Bica Funicular, sometimes known as the Elevador da Bica, is a funicular railway line in the civil parish of Misericórdia, in the municipality of Lisbon, Portugal. It connects. Although described as a funicular, technically it does not qualify because the traction is not provided by a mechanical cable but by electric motors on the two cars; the cable links the two cars together so that they ascend and descend each car acting as a counterweight for the other one. In 1888, the municipality of Lisbon celebrated a contract with the Nova Companhia dos Ascensores de Lisboa providing them a concession to the installation of a lift system that connected the Rua da Bica de Duarte Belo to the Rua de São Paulo along the Largo do Calhariz; the project was conceived by Raoul Mesnier du Ponsard. The mechanical motor of the elevator was installed after the conclusion of the public work. Yet, the lift only began functioning on 28 June 1892, after a couple of years of tests. In 1912, the Nova Companhia dos Ascensores Mecânicos de Lisboa signed a new contract with the municipality, allowing it to expand the electrification of all the lines.
Between 1914 and 1916, the project to automate the transport system using electrical systems was completed. During the conclusions of the process there was an accident with one of the cars, which became uncontrollable and crashed into the Rua de São Paulo lower station, resulting in its complete destruction; as a result, the funicular transport became inoperable for the next few years. In 1923, the municipal council demanded that company return the Bica lift to operation, forcing it to work on the line and install new cars, provided by the firm of Theodore Bell. After the dissolution of the Nova Companhia dos Ascensores Mecânicos de Lisboa the lift became the property of Companhia Carris. In 1927, the funicular returned to operation. On 29 September 2005, it was proposed that the funicular be included in the Special Protection Zone by the DRCLVTejo. In 2009 the dispatch was approved by the Minister of Culture, on 20 May 2011, the declaration was ratified that classified the lift with the architectural protection zone.
The funicular system is situated on the edge of the Pombaline downtown area of Lisbon overlooking the Tagus River, implanted along an axis dominated by an accentuated slope. Its course follows an area of predominantly rental buildings constructed during the 18th century; the lift includes two cars that travel the distance in opposite directions. The cars have three doors on either side, three compartments within the platform, with wooden seats oriented transversely from the central body; the funicular/lift rises along an 11.8% incline to the Rua da Bica de Duarte Belo, a distance of 245 metres, from the Rua de São Paulo. The transit system includes Largo de Santo Antoninho and Travessa da Bica Grande; the Bica funicular, much like the Funicular of Lavra and the Glória Funicular used to be moved by the Tramway system: using cable and water weights, with the cars equipped with water tanks. The system, today, is electrically operated; the lower station is hidden behind a facade on the Rua de S. Paulo with the inscription Ascensor da Bica.
The facade is framed with gates of wrought iron and portico with arch. The upper floors include rectangular windows, with the first and second floors including wrought iron varandas and the third floor with smaller picture windows. At the top a decorative cornice divides the upper floor from the Mansard roof, with wrought iron railing. In the interior, is a small atrium with circulation corridor for the cars. Ascensor da Glória List of funicular railways Capitão, Maria Amélia Motta, Subsídios para a História dos Transportes Terrestres em Lisboa no Século XIX, Portugal Almeida, Pedro Vieira de.
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