Praça do Comércio

On the cusp of the Tagus, the grand Praca do Comercio was once a busy landing port for arriving vessels and was for many visitors the very first glimpse of Lisbon. The square is surrounded by elegant arcades built in the 1700s, painted in a distinctive shade of yellow while in the center, the statue of of Dom José I astride a charger, commands attention. It's the majestic and ornate Arco da Rua Augusta with its six-columned gateway topped by beautiful sculptures by Célestin Anatole Calmels representing 'glory', built to commemorate the city's survival of the earthquake in 1755, that draws the eye. At sunset, the square's mosaicked floors and historic buildings awash in a blaze of fading sunlight are one of the city's most picturesque sights.