"Lisbon even from afar rises like a fair vision in a dream, clear-cut against a bright blue sky, which the sun gladdens with its gold. And the domes, the monuments and the old castles jut up above the mass of houses, like far-off heralds of the delightful seat, of this blessed region"
Ferdinado Pessoa, Lisbon 1925.
The capital of Portugal can be considered the cradle of Pessoa's thoughts and wanderings, the green root from which his stories have sprung to life. If you want to follow the path he hasindicated in his books, you need to start your journey from Rua dos Douradores, the real bursting heart and centre of the commercial activities of Lisbon. This is the street of ancient shops an professions such as cobblers and drapers, a street with nooks and crannies to be admired, a teeming mass of people and things with stories to tell and remember.
As a matter of fact, Bernardo Soares, the fictional author of Pessoa's The Book of Disquiet lived and worked in this street:
"And if the office on Rua dos Douradores represents life for me, the fourth-floor room where I live, on this same Rua dos Douradores represents Art for me. Yes, Art, residing on the very same street as Life, but in a different place. Art, which gives me relief from life without relieving me of living, being as monotonous as life itself, only in a different place. Yes, for me, the Rua dos Douradores contains the meaning of everything and the answer to all riddles except for the riddle of why riddles exist, which can never be answered".
The Lisbon which emerges from Pessoa's books is an intimate universe, scattered with disquiets and recurring thoughts but it is also a real world made up of everyday life. Squares, monuments, buildings restaurants and cafés in which he used to spend lots of time, drinking of coffee and talking with his friends.
It is this city which he described in Lisbon, What A Tourist Should See. The book is a tourist guide written in English in 1925, but published only in 1992, more than 50 years after his death.
In the beginning it was to be part of a more ambitious project which the great Portuguese poet and novelist wanted to dedicate to his city. The project, a series of publications, should have been entitled All About Portugal, and aimed at claiming the important role that this country has played in the human history. It intended to fight against Portugal's "demotion" to a less than European and civilised status in the world.
The guide book reflects Pessoa's artistic, architectural and literary interests and can be considered his declaration of love towards the city of Lisbon.
By listing the most important and renowned buildings and monuments, the poet shows his great affection for this city.
Even though it was written in 1925, it isstill a useful guide to discover the magic and beauty of the capital of Portugal.
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