Gallery › Lisbon
Map of Lisbon
Lisbon looks out over the Tagus from its hills. Between two of them lies a perfect grid, built all at once after the earthquake of 1755; on either side, neighbourhoods nobody planned, climbing the slopes as best they can.
What you see on the map
The Baixa. The district the Marquis of Pombal rebuilt after the earthquake: straight, parallel streets running down to the Praça do Comércio, open to the river. On the map it is the only clean grid, right in the centre.
The Alfama. To the east, below São Jorge Castle, the oldest pattern: alleys twisting along the hillside, just as they do on the map.
The Avenida da Liberdade. The great avenue climbing north-west to the Marquês de Pombal roundabout, the circle at the top left.
The Tagus. The river, almost sea by now in its estuary, closes the city to the south. It is drawn like the sea in old engravings: a few lines following the shore and spreading apart.
Which scale and paper suit it
1:15,000 on a 30 cm square, as in the picture, takes in the whole centre: the Baixa, the Chiado, the Alfama, Graça and the riverside.
1:5,000 on A3 moves in on the Alfama or the Bairro Alto, with every stairway and every courtyard.
In sepia, as here, it looks like an old plan; it is the theme that suits such an old city best.
Make it yours
Open the example and head west along the river: Belém, with the Jerónimos Monastery and the tower, deserves its own map at 1:10,000.
Change all the colours at once with a theme (black ink, sepia, night, blueprint) and download it as PNG. With a free account, also element by element, at 600 dpi, as vector PDF and as SVG.
