Bairro Alto, Lisboa, Portugal

Bairro Alto is an old and picturesque neighborhood in the center of Lisbon, with narrow, cobbled streets, secular houses, small traditional shops, restaurants and nightlife venues. Built in orthogonal plan from the beginning of the 16th century, it was known as Vila Nova de Andrade.

Its planning and construction are linked to the tsunami and earthquake of the Lisbon in 1755, according to Joaquim José Moreira de Mendonça.

Since the 80's it is the best known area of Lisbon for nightlife, with countless bars and restaurants, along with fado houses. There were also numerous press agencies until the 70s and 80s of the 20th century. Since then, it has acquired a very own and characteristic life, where different generations cross in the search of nocturnal fun.

It is also gradually becoming a place to live, with its population being renewed and rejuvenated.

During the 19th century and until the third quarter of the 20th century, as I said befor, the neighborhood was home to the main newspapers and typographies of the country. Even today it is possible to find echoes of that time in street names such as Rua Diário de Notícias or Rua do Século. This district of the capital, just a step away from Chiado, was frequented and inhabited by journalists, writers, artists and students. Was also a place for sailors, charcoal shops and places of bad fame and prostitution. Vitorino Nemésio allusions to this environment in the novel Mau tempo no Canal.

In 2013, celebrated the 500 years of Bairro Alto, since the first geometric plan of Lisbon was authorized, when Lopo de Athouguia agreed with, Bartolomeu de Andrade and his wife, Francisca Cordovil, the division of the same in batches. For these celebrations, a broad program was created, with a permanent opening for proposals from interested parties, namely by the residents and other economic and cultural agents of Bairro Alto. The executive committee was constituted by the Association of Residents of Bairro Alto, Brotherhood of Misericórdia and S. Roque de Lisboa, Lisbon Club Rio de Janeiro, Pharmacy Museum and Portuguese Association of Bookstores Alfarrabistas, also counting on a vast group of partners.

Bairro Alto is now a quiet and traditional neighborhood of Lisbon during the day, transforming from the beginning of the night into the main nightlife spot and meeting point of different cultures and generations. It is known as the usual place of concentration of young foreigners who are in Lisbon studying under the Erasmus program.

Some of the buildings have been or are being recovered, maintaining their original layout, which has allowed the installation of new and alternative commercial spaces, ranging from reference stores, to multi-brand stores and ateliers, through tattoo and piercing shops. On the other hand, the neighborhood probably has the largest concentration of restaurants and bars in Lisbon, attracting a very diverse public, both national and foreign.

Despite the recent construction and the installation of surveillance cameras on some streets, however, the level of policing has increased significantly in recent times, and is usually safe until at least the normal closure time of bars. Incidentally, in the last two years there has been a marked decrease in the crime rate in the neighborhood, contrary to the idea that it was a place with a level of insecurity above normal.

Bairro Alto was classified as Joint of Public Interest (CIP) in 2010.