Panteão Nacional

Many european capitals have a Pantheon, a place to pay tribute to dead national heroes. In Lisbon, this place is located in the old Santa Engracia church, in Alfama neighbourhood.

It is a big building, with a great dome and columnes. A really imposing place to honer the country's important figures.

Inside you'll find tombs honoring 21 national heroes (some of them are really burried there). The most important are:

• Vasco da Gama, the great navigator;



• Nuno Alvares Pereira, an important portuguese soldier that defended the kingdom of Portugal during spanish invasions;
• Afonso de Albuquerque, the governor of portuguese colonies in India;
• Luis de Camões, a great poet during the 15th century;
• Infante D. Henrique, a prince who convinced the portuguese royalties to go for the great navigations;
• Pedro Alvares Cabral, the navigator who discovered Brasil to the portuguese.

Not only governamental or classic figures are honored there. A fado singer, a soccer player and militar pilot also have tribute tombs there.

I didn't know many of this figures before going there, so it is a great place to get to know more about portuguese history and culture.

More than history

But besides history, the Pantheon itself is a very beautiful building. It took more than 200 years to build it completely, but the final result is really nice. It has three floors. The main floor is where you'll find the tombs. The others have temporary exhibitions. The last one though is a must go. It has a balcony from where you can see the hole city of Lisbon. Really beautiful!

Useful information

The Pantheon is located really near other important attractions such as Sé Cathedral and Castelo de S. Jorge. Also, its neighbourhood, Alfama, is a great place to go for a walk, so I reccomend you go there by foot.

If you don't want to follow this tip, you can also get there by subway. The closest station is Santa Apolonia (a really nice station to see as well).

To get in the Pantheon you have to buy tickets, but they are really cheap - only 2 euros for students. And the visit is really worth the price!

In normal days it is open from 10 am to 5pm, but there are some special events that take place there, such as concerts and new years eve cellebrations. If you have the opportunity, attend to those events! They must be great.

If you're Lisbon just for some days, don't miss this place, go there even if it's just for a visit! I'm sure you'll love it!