View allAll Photos Tagged tagus
The Monument of the Discoveries (Padrão dos Descobrimentos) stands on Lisbon’s northern bank of the Tagus River, in Santa Maria de Belém. It commemorates Portugal’s 15th–16th century Age of Discovery, marking the site where explorers once set sail for India and the Orient.
This is another shot taken at Jardim do Ginjal (see my previous post for further details on this beautiful garden).
The easiest way to get there when you are in Lisbon is to take the ferry to Cacilhas on the south bank of the Tagus River. When leaving the ferry turn right and follow the narrow path close to the water, known as Cais do Gingal (“Gingal’s Quay”). In the past it was a quite busy place, with factories and warehouses for canned fish, wine, olive oil and vinegars. The piers had constant activity with vessels for the transport of goods and people.
Nowadays the warehouses are closed and most part of the buildings are in ruins (in the background of my shot you can see some of those ruins). What you can find there nowadays is some people spending their free time fishing and locals and some tourists (not many) walking along the quay and enjoying the beautiful views of Lisbon on the other side of the river. At the end of the quay’s path you have a couple of functioning restaurants and a nice park/garden – Jardim do Ginjal.
**********
Jardim do Ginjal, Almada, Portugal
© All rights reserved Rui Baptista. Please do not use this image on websites, blogs or any other media without my explicit written permission.
6 exposure panorama of the old city of Toledo, Spain, as seen from across Rio Tajo (Tagus river). Bummer that Flickr cannot drill down to more detail of this 10,000+ pixel wide pano.
Lisbon, Portugal - November 2021: young muslim girls wearing veil and making selfie with their smartphone, sitting on the « Cais das Colunas » jetty next to Praça do Comércio. On the background, a boat is sailing on the mouth of the Tagus River.
Silhouette of a man walking by the river Tagus, in front of the Vasco da Gama bridge fading in the mist
Lisbon, Portugal
A 4am trip to the airport gave me an excuse to stop off at the nearby Vasco da Gama bridge, at 17km the longest in Europe. A classic location, it was very chilly for Lisbon at 5c.
Lisbon and its beautiful light and colours on a wonderful sunny day.
This shot was taken from the south bank of the Tagus, with Lisbon being seen on the opposite bank.
*****
Lisbon, Portugal
© All rights reserved Rui Baptista. Please do not use this image on websites, blogs or any other media without my explicit written permission.
Male Yellow-crowned Bishop. Otherwise known as the Napoleon Weaver.
There is a growing population of these birds in the Lisbon / Tagus estuary area. Originally from Sub-Saharan Africa escaped / released caged birds.
He was perched quite close on the edge of a rice field, which was lucky as the heat haze (35 degrees) was quite ferocious!
(Continuation of a story I began with Portugal #1)
Marvin and I returned to Cascais to resume our respective lives. He did buy a condo in Portugal that he ultimately shared with a Portuguese woman. The man who had encouraged me to exercise my newly found freedoms in Morocco was actually someone who was drawn to traditional women. He continued to try to fulfill the endless bureaucratic requirements that were asked of him in order to gain permanent immigration in Portugal.
I moved closer to the center of town and to the sea. I continued to write and continued to be very critical. I wandered the little fishing village and visitors struck up conversations with me. One woman observed that it was difficult to think of me as a writer because I was so gregarious. I was beginning to agree.
As the fifth month of my stay in Cascais arrived, so did sad news from America. My mother’s health was declining. It was necessary for me to return home. Marvin and I had kept in touch and he offered to take me to the airport. I packed up all of my yellow legal tablets and my meager belongings.
In the back of my mind, the Orient was a plan and a dream. I missed Asia. Perhaps I would end up on the other side of the world after being with my mother.
This picture was taken more recently when I returned to Lisboa on a cruise ship. It is a landmark of Lisboa. The 25 de Abril Bridge on the Tagus River was built in 1966. It was built by the same construction company that built the San Francisco – Oakland bridge. They even used the same color of paint on both bridges.
On that return trip, I raced off of the cruise ship and hired a taxi to take me to Cascais. Twenty years had not changed the little town very much, but now it was called a boutique fishing village and was drawing a good number of visitors. They had added a large super market and that seemed to be the extent of the modernization. The taxi driver was thrilled to show me around and explain the changes. Was Marvin still there? Sadly, we had lost touch with each other over the years which happens so frequently in our hurried lives so I didn’t know the answer.
When I got back to the cruise ship, I saw the cruise director and the enrichment director who I had befriended. They asked about my activities for the day. I told them that I had taken a taxi to Cascais. They looked at me and warned that doing such a thing could be quite dangerous. I am certain that I looked at them with some distain when I told them that I used to live there. I’m not sure they comprehended as the American man who was in charge of enrichment lectures on board the ship for years had rarely gotten off the ship.
Sunrise. River Tagus, Vasco da Gama Bridge and Tower. Parque das Nações, Lisbon
[Nikkor AI-S 50mm f/1.2, panorama merge]
The Ponte 25 de Abril suspension bridge is one of Lisbon’s most notable landmarks as it spans the River Tagus at the narrowest point. The suspension bridge connects Lisbon, on the north bank, with the commuter districts of Almada on the south bank.
The bridge, which bears such a striking resemblance to its San Franciscan twin, was in fact built by an American Bridge Company, the company who constructed San Francisco’s Bay Bridge (not the Golden Gate Bridge).
The Ponte 25 de Abril bridge was completed in 45 months and inaugurated on the 6th August 1966. The bridge was originally named Ponte Salazar (name of the former dictator who built the bridge) but after the bloodless revolution in 1974 the name was changed to the date of the revolution and symbolically the brass name of the bridge was replaced.
For more photos of Portugal, please click HERE.
Tagus River
Lisbon, Portugal
09-28-23
A Cruise ship on the Tagus River.
Opened in 1966, The Ponte 25 de Abril Bridge elicits a double take for anyone familiar with San Francisco. From Wikipedia: "The 25 de Abril Bridge is based in part on two San Francisco Bay Area bridges. Its paint is the same International Orange color as the famous Golden Gate Bridge, and the design is similar as well to the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge. Both the Bay Bridge and the 25 de Abril Bridge were built by the same company."
The Santuário de Cristo Rei (Sanctuary of Christ the King) can also be seen in the photo, on the south bank of the river. It is a Catholic statue dedicated to Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ, inspired by Rio's Christ the Redeemer
Looking across the Tagus River from Almada towards the 25 April Bridge and the city of Lisbon, during a beautiful sunset.
[#12 on explore 26/4/22]
Lisbon, Portugal: Ponte 25 de Abril crossing the Tagus River Estuary. Is there a troll under the bridge?
There are times when we feel like geting away from it all, and going to live on a
preatty small castle, built in its island in the middle of a river.
** Taken at Almourol Castle, built in a tiny island in the middle of river
Tagus in Portugal. This castle has belonged to the Templar Knights during
the Reconquista of this area of Portugal. The occupation of this site
extends to the Roman period and in 1129, when Portuguese troops conquered
the surrounding area from the Arabs, the castle was already in existence and
was known as Almoralan.
Ancient stone bridge with two arches spans the Tagus River, surrounded by verdant banks. The medieval town of Toledo rises on the slope, its historic buildings featuring cream-colored stone walls and pointed spires. The landscape is lush with greenery and shrubs, and the sky is a clear blue. The scene captures the harmonious blend of natural beauty and architectural heritage typical of Castile-La Mancha, Spain.
The tower was built in the early 16th century and is a prominent example of the Portuguese Manueline style, but it also incorporates hints of other architectural styles.
Because of the significant role it played in the Portuguese maritime discoveries of the era of the Age of Discoveries. The tower was commissioned by King John II to be part of a defence system at the mouth of the Tagus river and a ceremonial gateway to Lisbon.
This sunset shot was taken at Trafaria. The end of the day was windy and the sky looked threatening. Some of the clouds, curiously, seemed to be fragmenting(!), creating an interesting effect on the image.
Trafaria is a small village on the south bank of the Tagus, with just about 5 thousand inhabitants and its traditional activity was fishing, which nowadays is almost abandoned. It has some minor port activities, as can be seen from this photo, with the silhouette of two big bulk carriers (docked) and the small fishing boats anchored closer to the beach. The contrasting sizes of the boats worked here as an interesting composition element.
*********
Trafaria, Portugal
© All rights reserved Rui Baptista. Please do not use this image on websites, blogs or any other media without my explicit written permission.
The view over Lisbon, the Tagus and the 25 de Abril Bridge, captured from the summit of the Cristo-Rei statue. The rainclouds began to gather when I arrived but I managed to capture this spectacular scene before the sunlight completely disappeared. Thanks for stopping by.
This early morning shot of Lisbon’s suspension bridge was taken from the entrance to maat, the riverside museum of art and architecture.
Lisbon’s suspension bridge connects the city to the municipality of Almada on the left (south) bank of the Tagus river. It was inaugurated on August 6, 1966 and is often compared to the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, US, because they are both suspension bridges of similar color. It was built by the American Bridge Company which constructed the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge, but not the Golden Gate. Its total length is 2,277 metres (7,470 ft). The upper deck carries six car lanes, while the lower deck carries a double track railway. From 1966–1974, the bridge was named Salazar Bridge (Ponte Salazar) in honor of Portuguese Prime Minister António de Oliveira Salazar. Later, in 1974, the bridge was renamed for April 25th, the date of the revolution. It is usually called the Tagus River Bridge or, in Portuguese, Ponte sobre o Tejo ("bridge over the Tagus"). It was the first crossing built. Nowadays there is a second one (“Vasco da Gama Bridge”), to the north of the city, that was built for the Expo 1998. This last one was built using a traditional concrete technical solution.
*************
Lisbon, Portugal
© All rights reserved Rui Baptista. Please do not use this image on websites, blogs or any other media without my explicit written permission.
Navegando no Rio Tejo. As nuvens estão reflectidas no rio e as manchas brancas ao cimo da água são as sementes de salgueiro que começaram a cair das árvores.
Sailing on the river Tagus. The clouds are reflected on the water and the white spots floating are the fluffy white seeds that started drifting off the willow trees.
The 38 metres high building was built in 2001, to assist and control the traffic on the Tagus river. Its size and architectural design, tilted towards the river, made it a well-known landmark on Lisbon’s riverfront.
*-*-*-*-*-*
Lisbon, Portugal
© All rights reserved Rui Baptista. Please do not use this image on websites, blogs or any other media without my explicit written permission.
The late 14th century Puenta de San Martin crosses the River Tagus in the southwest of the city.
The Tagus forms a natural defensive moat around 3 sides of the city. I hadn't realised that this is the same river that flows to the sea west of Lisbon in Portugal but now I know the Tagus is the longest river in the Iberian Peninsula.