With five Portuguese cardinals, and at least one future <em>papabile</em> – Cardinal Américo Aguiar, who was responsible for World Youth Day 2023, is still only 50 – Lisbon has become a new spiritual axis of the world, an outward-facing port city that has become something of a focus for Pope Francis’s progressive spiritual mission.
In 1998, the then Prince Charles visited the newly-constructed Vasco da Gama Bridge – at the time the longest in Europe – finished just in time to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the famous 15th-century Portuguese explorer’s discovery of a new sea route between Europe and India. Today, the six-lane cable bridge, spanning 17.8 km across the Tagus River, stands as a confident architectural symbol of how Lisbon has long been – ever since the pioneering Jesuit missionaries of the 17th century – a critical trading and spiritual link between Old Catholic Europe, Asia and the New World.
Hence why it has such a rich cultural, religious and maritime history – not to mention the food, wine and port – and why it is one of the greatest religious tourism cities of the world. Top of the sightseeing list is the Jeronimos Monastery<em> </em>(where da Gama’s tomb lies) and its Navigators Museum next door. As our <a href="https://catholicherald.co.uk/author/charles-pelham/"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">Lisbon and London-based restaurant critic Charles Pelham</mark></a> said to me before recommending his city highlights: “Imagine da Gama striding in there and praying for God’s help in his discoveries before leaving from the docks.”
Lisbon is full of churches, each with its distinctive Iberian golden ziggurat behind the altar, climbing up to a monstrance throne. So important was Lisbon to the Church, in fact, that its patriarchs were granted the right to use the trappings of the old papal liturgies. Many items are now on display in the cathedral museum, which is well worth a visit.
Other “must-see” places in Lisbon include the Church of St Anthony, built on the site where St Anthony of Padua was born in 1195, the Museu de Arte Antiga, the Tile Museum, the Gulbenkian Foundation and Belém Tower (close to the presidential palace, where Prince Charles was hosted in 2011). Walk up to the <em>Cristo Rei </em>shrine in Almada which towers 361 feet over the city, built in the same monumental style as Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janerio. It represents Lisbon’s gratitude for escaping the suffering of World War II – Portugal remained neutral.
The other aspect to Lisbon is Portugal’s special relationship with England. From the English College in Lisbon – founded in 1621 to train English priests – to Sintra’s Royal Palace on the seaside, just 25 miles away, Lisbon and England have long enjoyed close links.
While the English College closed in 1973 – a new history will be reviewed in our books pages next month – a more enduring example is the Catholic Anglo-Portuguese Symington wine family which began with 19-year-old Andrew Symington, from Glasgow, starting up his own small Lisbon port company in the late 19th century, around the time the <em>Herald</em> was launched in 1888. After marrying a girl from a Portuguese port family, the Symington dynasty was born. Today they have eight wineries and four iconic port labels – Graham’s, Dow’s, Warre’s and Cockburn’s.
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Needless to say, all are perfect to serve at any British-Portuguese royal, diplomatic or political banquet. King Charles has been a regular visitor over the years.
Sintra’s Royal Palace, known as <em>O Paço</em> (the Town’s Palace), remains a must-see on any itinerary. During Queen Elizabeth II’s visit to Sintra in 1985, she was presented with a red Lancaster rose by the Anglophile royal museum director to commemorate the 1387 marriage of England’s Philippa of Lancaster to King John I of Portugal, after which they lived at Sintra Palace.
When Prince Charles visited in 1987, he unveiled (although the velvet curtain failed to open) a brass plaque to this union which was publicly described as a “significant moment in the histories of our countries, and in the linkage with our oldest ally”.
Indeed, even the <em>Museu de Medeiros e Almeida</em>, a hidden museum jewel in the centre of Lisbon, has British links. When it was still a grand private residence, the building was where our Bread & Wine critic’s great-grandmother died in 1947. His great-grandfather Sir Ronald Campbell was British Ambassador to Lisbon during the war. A 2002 article in <em>The Times</em>, headlined “a British Oscar Schindler”, described how Sir Ronald “saved the lives of 1,000 Jews by issuing them visas to flee to the colony of Mauritius”, according to secret files that had come to light in London.
So where to stay in Lisbon? It says something about King Charles that when, as Prince of Wales, he visited Lisbon with the Duchess of Cornwall in March 2011 as part of a 10-day official visit to Spain, Portugal and Morocco, he preferred to stay in the “royal suite” at the Lapa Palace Hotel, in the heart of Lisbon’s diplomatic quarter, rather than at the British embassy around the corner.
The Lapa is more than just the Claridge’s of Portugal. It is an institution whose eclectic guests have ranged from cardinals and VIPs during the papal visit for World Youth Day last August to a <em>Who’s Who</em> of European royalty. The latter include Queen Sofia of Spain, King Felipe of Spain, the King of Denmark, Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, the King and Queen of Sweden, Prince Albert and Princess Caroline of Monaco and the Aga Khan – not to forget President George W Bush and former EU president Jacques Delors.
But don’t think it’s just a stuffy polished marble-halled palace: one can imagine Portugal’s cardinals meeting discreetly in the breakfast garden courtyard over fresh coffee and a basket of <em>pasteis de nata</em>, the nation’s famous custard tartlets, best dusted with cinnamon. Or eating thinly-cut sandwiches and tea, or a stronger drink, in the Bar Rio Tejo which offers a selection of teas from 42 countries including England, Japan and Vietnam.
Admittedly, such members of the Sacred College are probably less likely to be found poolside (how I would love to have seen a Portuguese cardinal in scarlet swimming trunks), or lunching in Le Pavilion, the chic little poolside restaurant that allows you to finish off that bottle of Castelo d’Alba Reserva after a chicken Milanese lunch while watching your children splashing a few yards in front of you in the huge garden pool. They’ll soon be back to finish off their home-made “Romanoff ” ice-cream sundaes, topped with whipped cream and a ripe cardinal-red strawberry.
Yes, the Lapa may be in the middle of Lisbon but it still boasts a large pool in a sprawling sub-tropical garden with fish ponds thrashing with exotic giant koi.
The swimwear designer Heidi Klum stays at the Lapa when in Lisbon; over the years other guests have included Bruce Springsteen, Tina Turner, Rod Stewart, Barbara Streisand, Sting, Duran Duran and Robert de Niro. Or, if such “celebs” are not to your taste, you might find yourself sitting next to a Nobel Prize winner: the pharmacologist Sir John Vane and the American economist William Sharpe both stayed here.
Not that front-desk manager Pedro Gomes would ever dream of framing tacky signed photos of such guests and hanging them on the walls. Instead there is a large collection of framed awards, just off the lobby, including “Portugal’s Leading Hotel” in the World Traveller Awards and membership of the Condé Nast Gold List.
So what is it that continues to makes the Lapa such a must-stay “European classic” hotel magnet when in Lisbon? The first is cost. A standard room costs around £350 a night online in low season with breakfast (and what a breakfast, including crepes and pancakes, mini-hamburgers and crispy bacon, home-made quince marmalade, delicate fresh pears and eight types of artisan bread with Paris-style <em>Miel de Fleurs</em> honey and Bonne Maman peach conserve). This makes it much less expensive than most comparable “Condé Nast Gold List” hotels where £1,000 a night in London or Rome is the norm.
Above all, you don’t feel as if you are in the middle of a bustling city. When you walk over the little Japanese-style wooden bridge that arches over the koi ponds into the palm trees, water fountains and shade of the tropical garden, you feel more as if you are at some hidden-away French baronial villa in Cap D’Antibes, or the Two Bunch Palms in Palm Springs, Hollywood’s weekend spa getaway.
Yes, you can eat Lagareiro-style roast octopus, grilled sea-bass or prawn cocktail with a bourbon-flavoured sauce in the more formal Lapa Restaurant, but the old-school concierge Rui Palma – a member of Les Clefs d’Or, the international club of the world’s best concierges – can also direct you around the corner to the cosy and packed local neighbourhood restaurant Coma Prima, with candle-lit tables, which is included in the 2018 awards for the “70 Best Pizza Restaurants in the World”.
I stayed there with my wife for two nights in July last year before we visited the <a href="https://catholicherald.co.uk/pilgrims-diary-the-catholic-herald-heads-to-fatima/"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">shrine at Fatima</mark> </a>– roughly two hours north by car. As befitting a hotel in the heart of Lisbon’s diplomatic quarter, it felt more like an embassy than a swanky “palace” hotel. No, make that “ambassador’s residence”. I loved the beautiful satin bows that guests hang on hooks outside their heavy bedroom doors to indicate whether, red, they want “Não incomodar” (Privacy) or green, “Please Clean”. The 24-hour room-service menu is called “Snacks in Pyjama”.
Yes, it does have the expected Palace Spa, with “Jet Lag Treatment” and Turkish Steam Bath – good for any excess enthusiasm on the wine list – but it’s also very much a hotel to bring the family for a few days, without the hassle of even leaving the city.
But the real reason Lapa is unique is because you are stepping into Lisbon social history. For much longer than it has been a hotel, it was a private palace and house, and this ambience still exudes throughout today.
Following the devastating earthquake of 1788, the new hilltop residential district of Lapa – which means “the rock” – was created by the Baron of Porto, with views of the city and the Tagus River. Over 100 years later, a descendant built another house close by to give to his son, which he then sold on to the Count of Valencas, who was also a journalist, doctor, author and patron of the arts.
He hired the best architects, craftsmen and decorators to replicate the style of Louis XV, along with the portrait painter Columbano, the John Sargent of Lisbon at the time, to decorate the walls with a promenade of Lisbon society. He also painted the <em>piano nobile</em> – the fifth floor – where I was shown around the large royal suite where the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall stayed in 2011.
Decorated in cream and peach with an elegant French-style half-tester bed, and a terrace overlooking the ocean, it was easy to see why the future King and Queen chose the suite over the hospitality of the nearby British ambassador.
It came as little surprise to learn that before being acquired by the Olissippo hotel group, Lapa was owned by James Sherwood, former owner of the Cipriani in Venice, the Orient Express and co-owner of Harry’s Bar in London. I don’t know the name for the Portuguese equivalent of Colefax & Fowler but whatever it is, that firm had been hired to make the Lapa a sanctuary of classical English chintz taste.<br><em><br>Photo: Se Cathedral, Lisbon, Portugal (iStock).</em>
<strong><strong>This article originally appeared in the April 2024 issue of the <em>Catholic Herald</em>. To subscribe to our award-winning, thought-provoking magazine and have independent and high-calibre counter-cultural Catholic journalism delivered to your door anywhere in the world click</strong> <a href="https://catholicherald.co.uk/easter-24/?swcfpc=1"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">here</mark></a>.</strong>
