Lisbon - Praça Marques de Pombal

In 1913 an open competition to build the memorial was finally announced, the first stone was laid four years later and the second in 1926. A further eight years passed before the statue was finally officially opened in 1934.

The 9m/30ft tall statue of the Marques de Pombal, accompanied by a lion, stands on a 36m/118ft high pillar. The gaze of the ambitious and controversial politician is directed on to the lower city (Baixa) created by him. Depicted on the pedestal are agricultural and educational scenes - areas where the minister carried out extensive reforms. Below the pedestal an allegory of the earthquake with shattered stone cubes and overflowing waves from the Tagus can be seen. The people sitting at the back of the statue embody the reformed Coimbra University.