Rossio

It has been the setting of popular revolts and celebrations, bullfights and executions, and is now a preferred meeting place of Lisbon natives and tourists alike.

Around 1450, the Palace of Estaus, destined to house foreign dignitaries and noblemen visiting Lisbon, was built on the north side of the square.

In 1640, this Palace was the meeting point of Portuguese noblemen who conspired against Spain and led to the independence of Portugal from Spanish rule.

Most buildings around the Rossio date from the reconstruction of the Pombaline Downtown carried out after the great 1755 Lisbon earthquake, which levelled most structures in the area, including the magnificent All-Saints Hospital.

The rebuilding of the Rossio was undertaken in the second half of the 18th century by architects Eugénio dos Santos and Carlos Mardel, responsible for the typical Pombaline appearance of the buildings around the square.

The Teatro Nacional D. Maria II, built in the 1840s, was designed by the Italian Fortunato Lodi in neoclassical style.

In the 19th century the Rossio was paved with typical Portuguese mosaic and was adorned with bronze fountains imported from France.

The building of the Maria II Theatre and the Public Gardens to the north of the square only made the area more attended by Lisbon high society in the 19th century.

Drawing of the area around the Rossio from a 16th-century map. The square, in the middle of the image, is limited by the Estaús Palace (upper left corner of the square) and the large All-Saints Hospital (right side).
A view of the Rossio in the first half of the 18th century, appearing as it did before the earthquake struck.
Rossio Square in June 1968, with a TAP billboard in the background at night