MONDAY MARKED the 20th anniversary of Lisbon’s worst fire since the 1755 Great Lisbon Earthquake.
The fire, which was caused by an electrical fault near the famous Armazéns do Chiado in Lisbon’s historic Baixa Chiado, shocked the whole of Portugal on August 25, 1988.
The fire started in a shop in Rua do Carmo, which linked the Baixa to the city’s Bairro Alto.
A mixture of hot, dry conditions, the antique timbers of the largely 19th century buildings and the inability of the fire services to gain easy access to a narrow pedestrianised street allowed the fire to take hold and spread rapidly up through Rua Garrett.
Apart from shops and offices, many old 18th and 19th century buildings were completely gutted by the blaze which ripped through the Armazéns do Chiado shopping mall.
A brisk wind carried the flames far and wide, engulfing various quarters of the historic heart of Lisbon as fire fighters battled the blaze for over 12 hours.
Inferno
Two people died and 73 suffered injuries including burns, heat exhaustion and smoke inhalation.
A total of 18 shops were gutted by the flames in the inferno, which consumed more than 7,500,000 square hectares.
It has taken 20 years for the historic Chiado downtown area of Lisbon to recover, thanks to years of urban redevelopment and regeneration promoted by successive Lisbon Câmara administrations and government funds.
The old 19th century-style stores have been replaced with a modern, city-centre shopping mall with anchor store Fnac and some of the most exclusive brand name shops in Europe.
Today, Lisbon’s Baixa is the most expensive part of the city to live or rent with each square metre costing 4,000 euros.
The key architect responsible for coordinating many of the new projects in the area was Siza Vieira who helped, once again, turn the Chiado into the most visited part of the city by foreign and national tourists alike.
Do you have a view on this story? Email: editor@the-resident.com
