Lisbon - Pelourinho

A so called pelourinho, an 18th C. pillory, stands on the rather unspectacular square in front of the city hall. From the 12th until the 18th C. pelourinhos were erected in many towns in Portugal; they served less to punish convicts but were far more a symbol of the town's jurisdiction. The rather fragile looking pillory in front of the Lisbon city hall evokes Manueline associations: it consists of three stone bands which in turn have been wound into a spiral. The pillars are crowned by a bronze armillary sphere.