History of Lisbon 2

Great prosperity in Lisbon followed the successes of the explorers who brought back all sorts of treasures from places as far flung as South America and North America. Today the prosperity of these explorations can still be seen in Lisbon as many of the waterfront buildings were constructed during this period. Unfortunately in 1755 much of Lisbon was destroyed by an earthquake and casualties reached 60,000. The re-building of Lisbon started almost immediately after the earthquake

Lisbon was captured by Napoleon in 1807 and occupied by Napoleon until 1811 and since then Lisbon has gong through many changes. During one very tumultuous time the government in Portugal changed 45 times during 16 years. In 1926 Oliveira Salazar rose to power and went on to rule Portugal for almost 40 years. His reign will always be remembered as brutal with censorship of the public press and a secret police in operation.

More recently Lisbon entered the EC (1986) and since then has going from strength to strength. Today Lisbon's economy is largely based on the provision of services and almost 50% of the total economic activity of Portugal takes place in Lisbon.

Copyright @ Global Travel Solutions