Embracing Sea and Land: Ceremonial Tides in Lisbon's Waterfront Squares 1600–1800

Abstract

After a devastating earthquake, tsunami and fire in 1755, Lisbon's Terreiro do Paço, or Palace Square, was transformed by the Marquis of Pombal into a state of the art 18th century urban space called Praça do Comércio. This paper looks at the configuration and use of this space from the 16th to the 18th centuries, tracing customary, ceremonial and institutional events, with particular reference to the role the space had in connecting the city to the river and the wider maritime landscape. An analysis of the paintings in Lisbon's Arquivo Histórico Ultramarino (Navy Archives) and Museu da Cidade de Lisboa (City Museum of Lisbon) shows the space transitioned over two centuries from a high-tide condition fully engaging the water space of the Tagus to a low-tide condition that captured the space and engaged it with the reconstructed city quarter behind.