The Decadent Lisbon of Fialho de Almeida

Abstract

The XIX Century was one of enormous changes in Europe. Due to the Industrial Revolution, the physical image of the cities, as well as the social conditions, changed. London was the stage for these major changes, but the Portuguese capital, in its way, also felt the effects of modernization. Being cities of wealthy houses, there were also neighbourhoods of immense poverty and social degradation. The literary journalists wandered in these places and depicted in chronicles the reality they observed. One of these authors, who wrote about the city of Lisbon, was Fialho de Almeida, a doctor from the countryside who fell in love with the decadent capital of Portugal. Through his lenses we can observe the miserable houses, the decadent people and the polluted river Tagus as well as the rich neighbourhoods. The night is his favourite moment to wander in the labyrinth that is Lisbon.