“It would be safe to be here suddenly there was another earthquake in Lisbon?” The question arises from the middle of the group of journalists who had the privilege of going down to the galleries built underground downtown Lisbon without going through the long lines that form each time you open the trap door in front of the number 77 of Rua da Conceição. The guide’s response rests visitors. “This has been here for 2,000 years. If unsure, do not know what will. “
It’s not every day that you can go underground Lisbon – on the Silver Street can only do so twice a year, in April and September, when the Municipal Museum puts everything in place to temporarily dry runners and vaulted compartments . “Open more than twice could be problematic because we do not know the behavior that the structure may have with the permanent drying,” explains the guide António Marques, the Archaeology Centre of Lisbon. Another argument is the complex logistics involved -. Clean, install light points, removing “many cubic meters” of water
So each time you announce day visit, already anticipates a scenario : endless lines that go around the block, with many people waiting hours to be able to enter the trap door and down the stairs to the lower galleries. “There was a lot of dispute because of the long lines,” admits Antonio Marques. This time, the City Museum advance has opened registration for the free visits, which take place within the European Heritage Days. Vacancies sold out in three days – in total, between Friday and Sunday, 6300 people will be able to see this vestige of Roman Olissipo, whose construction dates back to the first century AD
The cryptoporticus (crypto to be hidden underground, gantry to be composed of vaulted galleries that support buildings on the surface) is “an engineering solution that the Romans implemented to address the geological uncertainties,” a kind of platform that allowed them to sustain the river sand and build on soil in that area to Tagus border, explains the guide, rubber boots up to his knees. See if you are used to circulate through the puddles (firefighters are constantly pumping water that accumulates even after emptying) and the drops that fall from the ceiling. Advice to visitors: to bring closed footwear
The galleries whose total size is unknown (knowledge advances as they perform works in the city), remained unknowns from the Middle Ages to the eighteenth century and. It has been discovered after the earthquake of 1755, during Pombal’s reconstruction. By the end of the twentieth century it was thought that there would have worked a Roman baths. “Today we know that was not a thermal suite, although there could be a spa building on this structure,” says archaeologist guide, stressing that the space would be dry
No one knows for certain that buildings existed on the surface . “It seems that would be related to the port and market activities of Olissipo.” Some compartments (small cells, where it takes curved floor) could serve up to the storage of products, traders who have their shops downtown.
But after all, where does the water that fills the maze vaulted corridors to about 1.50 meters tall? The explanation lies in the Gallery of springs – formerly the Water eyes, because it was believed that the water would be good for curing eye diseases – whose roof is torn from top to bottom. This narrow slit trickle groundwater buried, for example, on Avenida da Liberdade, which naturally flow into the Tagus. Arriving there, the waters come up against the walls erected during the construction of the city’s sewerage network, and accumulate.
Whether by movements of the land, either by vibration caused by transport to the surface, the gap is opening over a point, closing the other. Still, the three devices placed ten years ago in the fissure, to evaluate changes indicate that “the monument is stabilized.” “We are peaceful,” guaranteed António Marques, reiterating that the galleries will continue as in the past, “the service of Lisbon”, the “support half a block.”
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