Santa Justa Lift, Lisbon, Portugal

The Santa Justa Lift is an elevator, or lift, in the civil parish of Santa Justa, in the historical city of Lisbon. Situated at the end of Rua de Santa Justa, it connects the lower streets of the Baixa with the higher Largo do Carmo (Carmo Square).

Since its construction, the Lift has become a tourist attraction for Lisbon as, among the urban lifts in the city, Santa Justa is the only remaining vertical (conventional) one. Others, including Elevador da Glória and Elevador da Bica, are actually funicular railways, and the other lift constructed around the same time, the Elevator of São Julião, has since been demolished.

The hills of Lisbon have always presented a problem for travel between the lower streets of the main Baixa and the higher Largo do Carmo. In order to facilitate the movement between the two, the civil and military engineer Roberto Arménio presented a project to the Lisbon municipal council in 1874.

In 1900, the formal contract was signed on which the working group was obligated to present a project for an elevator in a period of six months. On 31 August 1901, King Carlos inaugurates the metal bridge and awning. Yet, its operation would wait until 1902. Originally powered by steam, it was converted to electrical operation in 1907. After remodelling and renovation, on February 2006, the Elevator walkway was reopened for the general public and tourists.

References:

Wikipedia

User Reviews

藍海婷Hai Ting (3 months ago)
Its it one if the must do when you are in Lisbon. It's very easily accessed as it's bang in the middle of the main shopping street. It connects the lower level to the upper tier ( visit the church on the upper floor) if you are like us and didn't buy any tourist pass which includes this ...then you must get yourself herself a metro day pass (~€6 of you are planning on going about Lisbon ..take the tram and enjoy the view) as this pass includes the lift- buying tickets just for the lift is ~€5 so definitely worth buying the pass. Watch out for queues as there was A very long wait when I was there..it opens late so I would recommend coming back when it's slightly less busy

Maha El Nasser (3 months ago)
Loved this structure despite being fairly afeared of heights. Just about made it up the windy staircase to the top. Don't look down! Beautiful metal work. Also it's included on the 24 public transport pass, so definitely worth the €6.40 if you're planning on taking a bus at any point in the day as well.

nick cef (4 months ago)
Not sure I would bother waiting in line for a half hour or more, but the views are worthwhile. Architecturally unique. Be advised that once you exit the elevator at the top, you still need to go up a good number of steps to get to the lookout. Also, if you have a Via Viagem public transport card/pass, you can use it to ride the elevator. There is another small fee to access the rooftop lookout, though.

Eetu Pesonen (4 months ago)
Nice lift that gets you to an awesome view. Visited during evening and captured beautifully lighted Lisbon central. Lift ride itself takes maybe 35 seconds and it requires some walking through narrow stairs to get top of the lift for the views.

Michael Ewart (4 months ago)
Definitely worth a visit for the incredible view at the top. Pro tip: the ride up is included in your all-day public transportation pass. But you do need to pay an additional 1.50 euro to go up to the observation deck. Well worth it!

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Photo from Flickr, copyright damiankania550

Historic Site of the week

Moszna Castle

The Moszna Castle is one of the best known monuments in the western part of Upper Silesia. The history of this building begins in the 17th century, although much older cellars were found in the gardens during excavations carried out at the beginning of the 20th century. Some of the investigators, including H. Barthel, claimed that those cellars could have been remnants of a presumed Templar castle, but their theory has never been proved. After World War II, further excavations discovered a medieval palisade.

The central part of the castle is an old baroque palace which was partially destroyed by fire on the night of April 2, 1896 and was reconstructed in the same year in its original form by Franz Hubert von Tiele-Winckler. The reconstruction works involved an extension of the residence. The eastern Neogothic-styled wing of the building was built by 1900, along with an adjacent orangery. In 1912-1914, the western wing was built in the Neo-Renaissance style. The architectural form of the castle contains a wide variety of styles, thus it can be generally defined as eclectic.

The height of the building, as well as its numerous turrets and spires, give the impression of verticalism. The whole castle has exactly ninety-nine turrets. Inside, it contains 365 rooms. The castle was twice visited by the German Emperor Wilhelm II. His participation in hunting during his stay at the castle was documented in a hand-written chronicle in 1911 as well as in the following year. The castle in Moszna was the residence of a Silesian family Tiele-Winckler who were industrial magnates, from 1866 until the spring of 1945 when they were forced to move to Germany and the castle was occupied by the Red Army. The period of the Soviet control caused significant damage to the castle's internal fittings in comparison to the minor damage caused by WWII.

After World War II the castle did not have a permanent owner and was the home of various institutions until 1972 when it became a convalescent home. Later it became a Public Health Care Centre for Therapies of Neuroses. Nowadays it can be visited by tourists since the health institution has moved to another building in the neighbourhood. The castle also has a chapel which is used as a concert hall. Since 1998 the castle housed a gallery in which works of various artists are presented at regular exhibitions.

Apart from the castle itself, the entire complex includes a park which has no precise boundaries and includes nearby fields, meadows and a forest. Only the main axis of the park can be characterised as geometrical. Starting from the gate, it leads along the oak and then horse-chestnut avenues, towards the castle. Further on, the park passes into an avenue of lime trees with symmetrical canals running along both sides of the path, lined with a few varieties of rhododendrons. The axis of the park terminates at the base of a former monument of Hubert von Tiele-Winckler. On the eastern side of the avenue there is a pond with an islet referred to by the owners as Easter Island. The islet is planted with needle-leaved shrubs and can be reached by a Chinese-styled bridge. The garden, as part of the whole park complex was restored slightly earlier than the castle itself. Preserved documents of 1868 state that the improvement in the garden's aesthetic quality was undertaken by Hubert von Tiele-Winckler.

Do you know an ancient castle or magnificent church near you?

Why not share it with other people interested in history? You can add your own historic sites and attractions to SpottingHistory.com.

It's absolutely free, easy, and doesn't even need registration!

Upload data

Looks like you are a history fan!

Do you know an ancient castle or hidden ruins near you?

Why not share it with other people interested in history? You can add your own historic sites and attractions to SpottingHistory. It's absolutely free, easy, and you can do it even without registration (of course you an also create an free account)!

Santa Justa Lift

Address

Details

More Information

Rating

Interesting Sites Nearby

User Reviews

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Must-see historic sighs in Luxembourg

Top historic sights of Istria

Best castles to visit in Slovakia

Historic Site of the week

Moszna Castle

Looks like you are a history fan!

Do you know an ancient castle or hidden ruins near you?