Lisbon - Bairro Alto

Bairro Alto ("high-lying quarter") is located above Baixa and developed in the 16th C. in the course of an extension of the city center towards the west and the northwest. The quarter only sufferred relatively little damage during the earthquake of 1755. The real Bairro Alto is considered to consist of the streets between Rua do Século, Rua de D. Pedro V, Rua de S. Pedro de Alcântara/Rua da Misericórdia and Rua do Loreto/Calçada do Combro.

The rather unusual geometric design used at that time for the construction of the city originates from a period when previously rural land was divided up for sale into rectangular and trapeziform parcels. The construction of the Jesuit church in the middle of the 16th C. played no insignificant part in attracting settlers to the area, the original name of this residential district being Bairro Alto de Sao Roque. In its beginnings Bairro Alto was temporarily the quarter where richer citizens and the nobility settled. When Alfama increasingly changed its character and fell into disrepair, some of Lisbon's prosperous inhabitants moved here and had houses and palaces built for themselves. Despite this Bairro Alto is predominantly regarded as a residential and working quarter for craftsmen and small shopkeepers.

At times the area was strongly influenced by the newspaper industry with many small printing works and editorial offices setting up business here. "Journalist Quarter" was until recently an unofficial nickname for Bairro Alto. The roads Rua do Diário de Noticias and Rua do Século still bear witness to the offices of two of the larger daily newspapers which were once produced here and the Rua Eduardo Coelho commemorates the founder of the Portuguese newspaper industry and the daily paper "Diário de Noticias".

Drug trafficking and prostitution have given this quarter a bad reputation for a long time.

Recently Bairro Alto has become fashionable with younger people and is popular as an evening meeting place. Many small restaurants, bars and pubs as well as some unusual, expensive shops make the change very clear. It is interesting that Bairro Alto presents a fundamentally different face during the day than from night time. Throughout the day the busy hustle and bustle of the inhabitants, who mostly know one another, predominates - Bairro Alto is one of the few unanonymous quarters in this city of two million inhabitants.

The many small retail outlets serve not only as places to shop but at the same time to exchange the latest gossip. In the evenings the narrow streets are equally as lively, but then it is the frequenters of restaurants and inns who throng through the quarter. Many tourists also come here; a number of fado bars have openend and compete for customers. There are also differences within the quarter - the eastern part appears the most lively, while the western half is comparatively quiet and self-contained.