Terry Foreman on 8 Jul 2012  •  Link

Lisbon (Portuguese: Lisboa) is the capital city and largest city of Portugal

Lisbon is one of the oldest cities in the world, predating other modern European capitals such as London, Paris and Rome by hundreds of years. Julius Caesar made it a municipium called Felicitas Julia, adding to the name Olissipo. Ruled by a series of Germanic tribes from the fifth century, it was captured by the Moors in the eighth century. In 1147, the Crusaders under Afonso Henriques reconquered the city and since then it has been a major political, economic, and cultural centre of Portugal. Unlike most capital cities, Lisbon's status as the capital of Portugal has never been granted or confirmed officially – by statute or in written form. Its position as the capital has formed through constitutional convention, making its position as de facto capital a part of the Constitution of Portugal.

Most of the Portuguese expeditions of the Age of Discovery left from Lisbon during the 15th to 17th centuries, including Vasco da Gama's expedition to India in 1497. In 1506, 3000 Jews were massacred in Lisbon. The 16th century was Lisbon's golden era: the city was the European hub of commerce between Africa, India, the Far East and, later, Brazil, and acquired great riches by exploiting the trade in spices, slaves, sugar, textiles, and other goods.

Portugal lost its independence to Spain after the succession crisis of 1580; the Portuguese Restoration War, which began with a coup d'état organized by the nobility and bourgeoisie in Lisbon and executed on 1 December 1640, restored Portuguese independence. The revolution of 1640 ended the sixty-year period of dual monarchy in Portugal and Spain under the Spanish Habsburgs, although the period from 1640 to 1668 was marked by periodic skirmishes between Portugal and Spain, as well as short episodes of more serious warfare, until the Treaty of Lisbon was signed in 1688. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lisb…

San Diego Sarah on 2 Sep 2024  •  Link

Lisbon lies near the mouth of the Tagus River, which is the longest waterway of the Iberian Peninsula. It rises in the Sierra de Albarracín of eastern Spain, at a point about 90 miles (150 km) from the Mediterranean coast, and flows westward across Spain and Portugal for 626 miles (1,007 km) to empty into the Atlantic Ocean near Lisbon.

The Tagus covers the heart of Portugal and Spain and has been of vital importance to the economic development of both nations.

The upper Tagus cuts into limestone rocks and flows generally southwestward through narrow, sinuous valleys with deep canyons and abundant ravines. Near Trillo (Guadalajara province) it runs more peacefully, and just before the town of Bolarque it is now held back by the dams of Entrepeñas and Buendía, forming an artificial lake known as the Sea of Castile, which covers an area of 51 square miles (132 square km).

Again flowing southwestward, the river irrigates the fertile lands of Aranjuez and the areas around Toledo and Talavera de la Reina until it reaches the province of Cáceres. Here it again flows through narrow, steep-edged trenches formed by quartzites and shales.

At Puente de Alcántara another dam on the river has formed one of the greatest artificial lakes in Europe, with a length of 57 miles (92 km).

Less than 10 miles (16 km) downstream the river becomes the frontier between Spain and Portugal for 27 miles (43 km).

It enters Portugal at Beira and the Sierra de Carbajo, then crosses the fertile region of Abrantes.

After flowing across Portugal for 111 miles (179 km), it forms at Vila Franca de Xira the Tagus (or Lisbon) estuary, emptying into the Atlantic Ocean.

Toledo is the only large Spanish city that lies along the river, which flows past the cities of Santarém and Lisbon in Portugal and supplies the latter with a fine natural harbor.

SEE https://www.britannica.com/place/… for the whole thing.

No wonder Spain wanted to keep it and Portugal!