The Marquês de Pombal Square, also known as the Rotunda do Marquês de Pombal, is an important square in the city of Lisbon, Portugal. It is located between Avenida da Liberdade and Parque Eduardo VII. In the center stands the monument to the Marquis of Pombal, inaugurated in 1934.
Under the square passes the Marquis Tunnel, an extensive road tunnel that connects the axis of Avenida Fontes Pereira de Melo with the A5 motorway and is intended to serve motorists in the municipalities west of Lisbon.
History
Once called the Rotunda, it was here that the decisive events that led to the Proclamation of the Portuguese Republic on October 5, 1910 took place.
Honoree
The square pays tribute to Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo, statesman, who led the country into the age of enlightenment, having ruled between 1750-77. His image is at the top of the column, with his hand resting on a lion (symbol of power), with his eyes turned to the Baixa, the center of the city of Lisbon that Pombal rebuilt after the earthquake of 1755.
Monument to the Marquis of Pombal
The competition for the monument (1915), was won by a team consisting of the architects Adães Bermudes and António do Couto (1874-1946) and sculptor Francisco dos Santos (the latter died 4 years before the inauguration). The monument also had the intervention of the sculptors Simões de Almeida (nephew), Leopoldo de Almeida and Eduardo Ribeiro Leitão.
Inaugurated on May 13, 1934, the Monument to the Marquis of Pombal consists of a pedestal in worked stone, 40 meters high, where the statue rests, in bronze. This pedestal bears, at the top, four medallions where the main collaborators of the Marquis of Pombal appear. The lower part of the base is surrounded by several allegorical figures, "namely the female figure symbolizing "Lisbon rebuilt" and three sculptural groups evoking the reforms carried out by Sebastião Carvalho e Melo. At the top, the statue of the Marquis of Pombal, full body, rests his arm on the back of a lion, which symbolizes strength, determination and royalty itself." [1] The sidewalk around the roundabout is decorated with the arms of Lisbon.
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