1.
Lisbon
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Lisbon is the capital and the largest city of Portugal, with a population of 552,700 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km². Its urban area extends beyond the administrative limits with a population of around 2.7 million people. About 2.8 million people live in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area and it is continental Europes westernmost capital city and the only one along the Atlantic coast. Lisbon lies in the western Iberian Peninsula on the Atlantic Ocean, the westernmost areas of its metro area is the westernmost point of Continental Europe. Lisbon is recognised as a city because of its importance in finance, commerce, media, entertainment, arts, international trade, education. It is one of the economic centres on the continent, with a growing financial sector. Humberto Delgado Airport serves over 20 million passengers annually, as of 2015, and the motorway network, the city is the 7th-most-visited city in Southern Europe, after Istanbul, Rome, Barcelona, Madrid, Athens and Milan, with 1,740,000 tourists in 2009. The Lisbon region contributes with a higher GDP PPP per capita than any region in Portugal. Its GDP amounts to 96.3 billion USD and thus $32,434 per capita, the city occupies 32nd place of highest gross earnings in the world. Most of the headquarters of multinationals in the country are located in the Lisbon area and it is also the political centre of the country, as its seat of Government and residence of the Head of State. Lisbon is one of the oldest cities in the world, julius Caesar made it a municipium called Felicitas Julia, adding to the name Olissipo. Ruled by a series of Germanic tribes from the 5th century, in 1147, the Crusaders under Afonso Henriques reconquered the city and since then it has been a major political, economic and cultural centre of Portugal. Unlike most capital cities, Lisbons status as the capital of Portugal has never been granted or confirmed officially – by statute or in written form. Its position as the capital has formed through constitutional convention, making its position as de facto capital a part of the Constitution of Portugal. It has one of the warmest winters of any metropolis in Europe, the typical summer season lasts about four months, from June to September, although also in April temperatures sometimes reach around 25 °C. Although modern archaeological excavations show a Phoenician presence at this location since 1200 BC, another conjecture based on ancient hydronymy suggests that the name of the settlement derived from the pre-Roman appellation for the Tagus, Lisso or Lucio. Lisbons name was written Ulyssippo in Latin by the geographer Pomponius Mela and it was later referred to as Olisippo by Pliny the Elder and by the Greeks as Olissipo or Olissipona. The Indo-European Celts invaded in the 1st millennium BC, mixing with the Pre-Indo-European population and this indigenous settlement maintained commercial relations with the Phoenicians, which would account for the recent findings of Phoenician pottery and other material objects
2.
Portugal
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Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. It is the westernmost country of mainland Europe, to the west and south it is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean and to the east and north by Spain. The Portugal–Spain border is 1,214 kilometres long and considered the longest uninterrupted border within the European Union, the republic also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira, both autonomous regions with their own regional governments. The territory of modern Portugal has been settled, invaded. The Pre-Celts, Celts, Carthaginians and the Romans were followed by the invasions of the Visigothic, in 711 the Iberian Peninsula was invaded by the Moors, making Portugal part of Muslim Al Andalus. Portugal was born as result of the Christian Reconquista, and in 1139, Afonso Henriques was proclaimed King of Portugal, in the 15th and 16th centuries, Portugal established the first global empire, becoming one of the worlds major economic, political and military powers. Portugal monopolized the trade during this time, and the Portuguese Empire expanded with military campaigns led in Asia. After the 1910 revolution deposed the monarchy, the democratic but unstable Portuguese First Republic was established, democracy was restored after the Portuguese Colonial War and the Carnation Revolution in 1974. Shortly after, independence was granted to almost all its overseas territories, Portugal has left a profound cultural and architectural influence across the globe and a legacy of over 250 million Portuguese speakers today. Portugal is a country with a high-income advanced economy and a high living standard. It is the 5th most peaceful country in the world, maintaining a unitary semi-presidential republican form of government and it has the 18th highest Social Progress in the world, putting it ahead of other Western European countries like France, Spain and Italy. Portugal is a pioneer when it comes to drug decriminalization, as the nation decriminalized the possession of all drugs for use in 2001. The early history of Portugal is shared with the rest of the Iberian Peninsula located in South Western Europe, the name of Portugal derives from the joined Romano-Celtic name Portus Cale. Other influences include some 5th-century vestiges of Alan settlements, which were found in Alenquer, Coimbra, the region of present-day Portugal was inhabited by Neanderthals and then by Homo sapiens, who roamed the border-less region of the northern Iberian peninsula. These were subsistence societies that, although they did not establish prosperous settlements, neolithic Portugal experimented with domestication of herding animals, the raising of some cereal crops and fluvial or marine fishing. Chief among these tribes were the Calaicians or Gallaeci of Northern Portugal, the Lusitanians of central Portugal, the Celtici of Alentejo, a few small, semi-permanent, commercial coastal settlements were also founded in the Algarve region by Phoenicians-Carthaginians. Romans first invaded the Iberian Peninsula in 219 BC, during the last days of Julius Caesar, almost the entire peninsula had been annexed to the Roman Republic. The Carthaginians, Romes adversary in the Punic Wars, were expelled from their coastal colonies and it suffered a severe setback in 150 BC, when a rebellion began in the north
3.
Opera house
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An opera house is a theatre building used for opera performances that consists of a stage, an orchestra pit, audience seating, and backstage facilities for costumes and set building. While some venues are constructed specifically for operas, other houses are part of larger performing arts centers. In contrast, there was no house in London when Henry Purcell was composing. Early United States opera houses served a variety of functions in towns and cities, hosting community dances, fairs, plays, with the rise of bourgeois and capitalist social forms in the 19th century, European culture moved away from its patronage system to a publicly supported system. In the 2000s, most opera and theatre companies raise funds from a combination of government and institutional grants, ticket sales, the Teatro San Carlo in Naples introduces the plant horseshoe, the oldest in the world, a model for the Italian theater. On this model were built following theaters of Italy and Europe, among others, the theater of the Palace of Caserta. Given the popularity of opera in 18th and 19th century Europe, opera houses are large, with generally more than 1,000 seats. Modern opera houses of the century such as New Yorks Metropolitan Opera. Many operas are better suited to being presented in smaller theatres, in a traditional opera house, the auditorium is U-shaped, with the length of the sides determining the audience capacity. Around this are tiers of balconies, and often, nearer to the stage, are boxes and this is especially true of Wagners Bayreuth Festspielhaus where the pit is almost completely covered. The size of an opera orchestra varies, but for some operas, oratorios and other works, it may be large, for some romantic period works. Similarly, an opera may have a large cast of characters, chorus, dancers, therefore, a major opera house will have extensive dressing room facilities. Opera houses often have on-premises set and costume building shops and facilities for storage of costumes, make-up, masks, and stage properties, major opera houses throughout the world often have highly mechanized stages, with large stage elevators permitting heavy sets to be changed rapidly. At the Metropolitan Opera, for instance, sets are changed during the action, as the audience watches. This occurs in the Mets productions of such as Aida. Much the same happened in the remodeling of Milans La Scala opera house between 2002 and 2004, since the 1990s, however, many opera houses have begun using a subtle form of sound reinforcement called acoustic enhancement. Often, operas are presented in their languages, which may be different from the first language of the audience. For example, a Wagnerian opera presented in London may be in German, therefore, since the 1980s modern opera houses have assisted the audience by providing translated supertitles, projections of the words above or near to the stage
4.
Maria I of Portugal
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Dona Maria I was Queen of Portugal, Brazil, and the Algarves. Known as Maria the Pious, or Maria the Mad, she was the first undisputed Queen regnant of Portugal, with Napoleons European conquests, her court, then under the direction of Prince Dom João, the Prince Regent, moved to Brazil, then a Portuguese colony. Later on, Brazil would be elevated from the rank of a colony to that of a kingdom, with the formation of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil. Maria was born at the Ribeira Palace in Lisbon and baptized Maria Francisca Isabel Josefa Antónia Gertrudes Rita Joana, on the day of her birth, her grandfather, King John V of Portugal, created her the Princess of Beira. Maria grew up in a time when her fathers government was dominated completely by the first Marquis of Pombal and her father would often retire to the Palace of Queluz which was later given to Maria and her husband. The Marquis took control of the government after the terrible 1755 Lisbon earthquake of 1 November 1755, after the earthquake, Marias father was often uncomfortable at the thought of staying in enclosed spaces, and later suffered from claustrophobia. The king had a built in Ajuda, away from the city centre. This palace became known as Real Barraca de Ajuda because it was made of wood, the family spent much time at the large palace, and it was the birthplace of Marias first child. In 1794 the palace burned to the ground and the Palace of Ajuda was built in its place, in 1760 Maria married her uncle Pedro, younger brother of her father Jose I. They had six children, of whom the eldest surviving son succeeded Maria as João VI on her death in 1816, in 1777, Maria became the first undisputed queen regnant of Portugal and the Algarves. With Marias accession, her husband became king as Peter III, despite Peters status as king and the nominal joint reign, the actual regal authority was vested solely in Maria, as she was the lineal heir of the crown. Also, as Peters kingship was iure uxoris only, his reign would cease in the event of Marias death, Maria is considered as having been a good ruler in the period prior to her madness. Noteworthy events of this period include Portugals membership in the League of Armed Neutrality, Queen Maria suffered from religious mania and melancholia. This acute mental illness made her incapable of handling state affairs after 1792, Marias madness was first officially noticed in 1786, when Maria had to be carried back to her apartments in a state of delirium. Afterward, the mental state became increasingly worse. In May 1786, her husband died, Maria was devastated, according to a contemporary, state festivities began to resemble religious ceremonies. Her condition worsened after the death of her eldest son, aged 27, from smallpox, in February 1792, she was deemed mentally insane and was treated by Francis Willis, the same physician who attended King George III of Great Britain. Willis wanted to take her to England, but the plan was refused by the Portuguese court, Marias second son and new heir-apparent, John, took over the government in her name, even though he only took the title of Prince Regent in 1799
5.
1755 Lisbon earthquake
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The 1755 Lisbon earthquake, also known as the Great Lisbon earthquake, occurred in the Kingdom of Portugal on Saturday,1 November, the holy day of All Saints Day, at around 09,40 local time. In combination with subsequent fires and a tsunami, the earthquake almost totally destroyed Lisbon, estimates place the death toll in Lisbon alone between 10,000 and 100,000 people, making it one of the deadliest earthquakes in history. The earthquake accentuated political tensions in the Kingdom of Portugal and profoundly disrupted the countrys colonial ambitions, the event was widely discussed and dwelt upon by European Enlightenment philosophers, and inspired major developments in theodicy. As the first earthquake studied scientifically for its effects over an area, it led to the birth of modern seismology. In 1755, the earthquake struck on the morning of 1 November, contemporary reports state that the earthquake lasted between three and a half and six minutes, causing fissures 5 metres wide to open in the city centre. Survivors rushed to the space of the docks for safety and watched as the water receded, revealing a sea floor littered with lost cargo. Approximately 40 minutes after the earthquake, a tsunami engulfed the harbour and downtown area, rushing up the Tagus river, were forced to gallop as fast as possible to the upper grounds for fear of being carried away. It was followed by two more waves, in the areas unaffected by the tsunami, fire quickly broke out, and flames raged for five days. Lisbon was not the only Portuguese city affected by the catastrophe, throughout the south of the country, in particular the Algarve, destruction was rampant. The tsunami destroyed some coastal fortresses in the Algarve and, in the lower levels, almost all the coastal towns and villages of the Algarve were heavily damaged, except Faro, which was protected by the sandy banks of Ria Formosa. In Lagos, the reached the top of the city walls. Other towns of different Portuguese regions, such as Peniche, Cascais, and even Covilhã, the shock waves of the earthquake destroyed part of Covilhãs castle walls and its large towers. On the island of Madeira, Funchal and many smaller settlements suffered significant damage, almost all of the ports in the Azores archipelago suffered most of their destruction from the tsunami, with the sea penetrating about 150 m inland. Shocks from the earthquake were felt throughout Europe as far as Finland and North Africa, and according to some even in Greenland. Tsunamis as tall as 20 metres swept the coast of North Africa, a three-metre tsunami hit Cornwall on the southern English coast. Galway, on the west coast of Ireland, was also hit, at Kinsale, several vessels were whirled round in the harbor, and water poured into the marketplace. In 2015, it was revealed that the waves may have reached the coast of Brazil. Such a hypothesis was raised by reviewing letters sent by Brazilian authorities at the time of the earthquake and these letters describe damage and destruction caused by gigantic waves
6.
Chiado
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Chiado is the name of a square and its surrounding area in the city of Lisbon, Portugal. The Chiado is located between the neighbourhoods of Bairro Alto and Baixa Pombalina and it is a traditional shopping area that mixes old and modern commercial establishments, mostly located at the Carmo and Garrett streets. The most well-known café of Chiado is A Brasileira, famous for having had poet Fernando Pessoa among its customers, the Chiado is also an important cultural area, with several museums and theatres. In 1988, the Chiado area was affected by a fire. The toponym Chiado has existed since around 1567, initially the name referred to Garrett Street, and later to the whole surrounding area. The most widely cited possible origin for the name is related to António Ribeiro, a bronze statue of the poet, by sculptor Costa Mota, was placed in the Chiado Square in 1925. The Chiado has been inhabited since at least Roman times, when several villae were present in the area, during the Middle Ages it was used for agricultural purposes and it was in its vicinity that North European Crusaders settled during the Siege of Lisbon, in 1147. After the Christian reconquest of Lisbon, several convents were founded here, the St Francis Convent, Espírito Santo da Pedreira, Trindade Convent and the Carmo Convent. Between 1373 and 1375, during the reign of King Fernando I, the main gate was located in the Chiado Square. In the 16th century, the area outside the city walls was also urbanised, the gate and walls were demolished in the early 18th century. The 1755 Lisbon earthquake greatly affected the area, destroying houses, churches, the rebuilding plan organised by the Marquis of Pombal included the Chiado, and new streets were opened to link the area with the Baixa Pombalina. New churches we rebuilt in Rococo-Baroque style, like the Mártires Church, Encarnação Church and the Loreto Church, in the 18th and, especially, in the 19th century, a great number of important commercial establishments opened in the Chiado, turning it into a favourite shopping area. Some of them exist to this day, like the Bertrand Bookshop, in 1792, Lisbons opera house, the Teatro Nacional São Carlos, was inaugurated, attracting the cultural elite of the city, and other theatres were opened in the 19th century. Museums were also created, like the Archaeological Museum in the former Carmo Church, the cafés and theatres in the area were a meeting point for the aristocracy, artists, and intellectuals at least until the 1960s. It eventually became a beloved touristic site thanks to its streets and squares, cultural attractions, cafés. The fire was fought by 1,680 firefighters from throughout the country, two people were killed, and 73 were injured. Between 200 and 300 people lost their homes, and close to 2000 people lost their jobs, in terms of the extent of the city affected and number of destroyed buildings, the Chiado fire is often considered the worst disaster to strike the city since the 1755 Lisbon earthquake. Although it is known that the fire started with a slow combustion on the top floor of the Grandella building the cause was never fully determined
7.
Neoclassical architecture
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Neoclassical architecture is an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century. In its purest form, it is a style derived from the architecture of classical antiquity, the Vitruvian principles. In form, Neoclassical architecture emphasizes the wall rather than chiaroscuro, Neoclassical architecture is still designed today, but may be labelled New Classical Architecture for contemporary buildings. In Central and Eastern Europe, the style is referred to as Classicism. Many early 19th-century neoclassical architects were influenced by the drawings and projects of Étienne-Louis Boullée, the many graphite drawings of Boullée and his students depict spare geometrical architecture that emulates the eternality of the universe. There are links between Boullées ideas and Edmund Burkes conception of the sublime, the baroque style had never truly been to the English taste. The most popular was the four-volume Vitruvius Britannicus by Colen Campbell, the book contained architectural prints of famous British buildings that had been inspired by the great architects from Vitruvius to Palladio. At first the book featured the work of Inigo Jones. Palladian architecture became well established in 18th-century Britain, at the forefront of the new school of design was the aristocratic architect earl, Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington, in 1729, he and William Kent, designed Chiswick House. This House was a reinterpretation of Palladios Villa Capra, but purified of 16th century elements and this severe lack of ornamentation was to be a feature of the Palladianism. In 1734 William Kent and Lord Burlington designed one of Englands finest examples of Palladian architecture with Holkham Hall in Norfolk, the main block of this house followed Palladios dictates quite closely, but Palladios low, often detached, wings of farm buildings were elevated in significance. This classicising vein was also detectable, to a degree, in the Late Baroque architecture in Paris. This shift was even visible in Rome at the redesigned façade for S, by the mid 18th century, the movement broadened to incorporate a greater range of Classical influences, including those from Ancient Greece. The shift to neoclassical architecture is conventionally dated to the 1750s, in France, the movement was propelled by a generation of French art students trained in Rome, and was influenced by the writings of Johann Joachim Winckelmann. The style was adopted by progressive circles in other countries such as Sweden. A second neoclassic wave, more severe, more studied and more consciously archaeological, is associated with the height of the Napoleonic Empire, in France, the first phase of neoclassicism was expressed in the Louis XVI style, and the second in the styles called Directoire or Empire. The Scottish architect Charles Cameron created palatial Italianate interiors for the German-born Catherine II the Great in St. Petersburg, indoors, neoclassicism made a discovery of the genuine classic interior, inspired by the rediscoveries at Pompeii and Herculaneum. These had begun in the late 1740s, but only achieved an audience in the 1760s
8.
Rococo
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Rococo artists and architects used a more jocular, florid, and graceful approach to the Baroque. Their style was ornate and used light colours, asymmetrical designs, curves, unlike the political Baroque, the Rococo had playful and witty themes. By the end of the 18th century, Rococo was largely replaced by the Neoclassic style. In 1835 the Dictionary of the French Academy stated that the word Rococo usually covers the kind of ornament, style and design associated with Louis XVs reign and it includes therefore, all types of art from around the middle of the 18th century in France. The word is seen as a combination of the French rocaille and coquilles, the term may also be a combination of the Italian word barocco and the French rocaille and may describe the refined and fanciful style that became fashionable in parts of Europe in the 18th century. The Rococo love of shell-like curves and focus on decorative arts led some critics to say that the style was frivolous or merely modish, when the term was first used in English in about 1836, it was a colloquialism meaning old-fashioned. While there is some debate about the historical significance of the style to art in general. Italian architects of the late Baroque/early Rococo were wooed to Catholic Germany, Bohemia and Austria by local princes, an exotic but in some ways more formal type of Rococo appeared in France where Louis XIVs succession brought a change in the court artists and general artistic fashion. By the end of the long reign, rich Baroque designs were giving way to lighter elements with more curves. These elements are obvious in the designs of Nicolas Pineau. During the Régence, court life moved away from Versailles and this change became well established, first in the royal palace. The delicacy and playfulness of Rococo designs is seen as perfectly in tune with the excesses of Louis XVs reign. The 1730s represented the height of Rococo development in France, the style had spread beyond architecture and furniture to painting and sculpture, exemplified by the works of Antoine Watteau and François Boucher. The Rococo style was spread by French artists and engraved publications, william Hogarth helped develop a theoretical foundation for Rococo beauty. Though not intentionally referencing the movement, he argued in his Analysis of Beauty that the lines and S-curves prominent in Rococo were the basis for grace. The development of Rococo in Great Britain is considered to have connected with the revival of interest in Gothic architecture early in the 18th century. The beginning of the end for Rococo came in the early 1760s as figures like Voltaire and Jacques-François Blondel began to voice their criticism of the superficiality, Blondel decried the ridiculous jumble of shells, dragons, reeds, palm-trees and plants in contemporary interiors. By 1785, Rococo had passed out of fashion in France, replaced by the order, in Germany, late 18th century Rococo was ridiculed as Zopf und Perücke, and this phase is sometimes referred to as Zopfstil
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Media related to Teatro Nacional de São Carlos at Wikimedia CommonsCoordinates: 38°42′34″N 9°8′30″W / 38.70944°N 9.14167°W