Miradouro das Portas do Sol

Viewpoint · AlfamaLisbon, Portugal

The Portas do Sol — the gates of the sun — was one of the entrances through the Moorish city wall, on the eastern side of the castle hill. The wall is gone and a terrace stands on the line of it, which is why the drop below is so abrupt: you are standing on the old defensive contour, looking down into the quarter the wall enclosed. Alfama falls away directly beneath in terracotta roofs, whitewashed walls, washing lines and the odd palm, and slides down to the water. The white mass of São Vicente de Fora sits to the left and the pale dome of the National Pantheon behind it. This is a terrace people sit on rather than pass through. A kiosk usually operates on it with tables outside, and buskers with a Portuguese guitar often play there through the afternoon. The marble figure at the rail is São Vicente holding a boat with a raven at each end, which is the city's coat of arms, set here on what used to be the city's edge. A minute's walk downhill along Rua do Limoeiro is the Santa Luzia terrace, which adds a pergola and tiled panels showing Lisbon before the earthquake.

Worth knowing

Good to know

Breakfast or golden hour — mid-morning to late afternoon the terrace is at capacity; early gives clear light and space, and the last hour gives the roofs turning colour.
The statue is the city's arms — São Vicente holds a ship with a raven at each end, which is the emblem you will then start seeing on every drain cover in Lisbon.
Shoot along the roofs, not down — pointing the camera down flattens Alfama; keeping the horizon in the frame keeps the fall of the hill readable.

Things to do

1
Take a chair and stay an hour
Buy something at the kiosk, take one of the deckchairs at the rail, and do not go anywhere. Alfama below changes with the light and with the laundry, trams pass behind you every few minutes, and a guitar often starts somewhere along the terrace in the afternoon.
2
Walk down into what you were looking at
From the terrace, take any stair going down on the far side of the road. Within two minutes the view is gone and you are inside it — alleys the width of your shoulders, tiled doorways, cats — and the whole descent ends at the river if you keep choosing down.
3
Walk down to the tiled panels
A minute downhill, the Santa Luzia terrace carries two large blue panels set into the church wall. One shows the Terreiro do Paço as it stood before 1755, with the royal palace filling the side of the square that is now open to the river. The other shows the taking of the city in 1147. Both get less attention than the pergola they sit under.