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Architectural historian António Sérgio Rosa de Carvalho is a worried man. He talks rapidly and with conviction when we meet in Café Nicola in down-town Lisbon. The central district known as Baixa Pombalina is a grid of grand streets ending on the famous Praça do Comércio. It is one of the major tourist attractions of the city but according to Rosa de Carvalho it is in danger. How can an area so popular and famous be under serious threat? What has happened? Rosa de Carvalho explains: “Baixa Pombalina is a coherent and extensive historical urban area. It was built after the great Lisbon earthquake and tsunami of 1755 on the basis of a large master plan of reconstruction. It is unique in
Europe. In 2004 the area was inscribed on the tentative list of UNESCO World Heritage. However, despite its global importance, it is in a deplorable state and under severe threat.”
Tourists promenading through the charming streets will rarely notice the real state of affairs. You sense something is not quite right, when you to start to look up and behind the façades. Many shops have closed and the apartments above them are empty, sometimes even derelict. Behind the main tourist streets the situation is even more severe. Buildings have been deserted. Slum lords are renting out uninhabitable rooms to people with no choice. An area which for centuries was proof of Portugal’s’ resilience against misfortune, has become a sad shadow of its former glory. The individual buildings are not of great architectural or historical importance. It is all the buildings combined that makes the district stand out. The houses were