It is located in the parish of Misericórdia, municipality and district of Lisbon, central Portugal
Bairro Alto is an old neighborhood with narrow, cobbled streets, centuries-old houses, small traditional shops, restaurants and nightlife spots.
Bairro Alto was built in an orthogonal plan from the beginning of the 16th century and was known as Vila Nova de Andrade.
Its planning and construction are linked to the tsunami of the Lisbon Earthquake of 1531, as Joaquim José Moreira de Mendonça attests.
Bairro Alto is bounded to the West by Rua do Século, to the East by Rua da Misericórdia, to the North by Rua D. Pedro V and to the South by Calçada do Combro, Largo do Calhariz, Rua do Loreto, and Largo de Camões.
In the 1980s, it was Lisbon's best-known nightlife area with countless bars and restaurants, along with fado houses, it acquired a very unique and characteristic life, where different generations come together in search of nightlife.
Little by little it is also becoming clear that it has become sought after as a place to live and its population is being renewed and rejuvenated.
In the 19th century and until the third quarter of the 20th century, the neighborhood was the location of the headquarters of the country's main newspapers and printing presses. Even today, it is possible to find echoes of that time in street names such as Rua Diário de Notícias or Rua do Século.
The neighborhood of the capital, just a stone's throw from Chiado, frequented and inhabited by journalists, writers, artists and students, was also a place for sailors' taverns, charcoal shops and places of ill fame and prostitution, and Vitorino Nemésio alludes to this environment in the novel Mau tempo no canal.
The building where Diário de Notícias was born was later occupied by A Capital (daily closed in 2005), and is now known as Edifício A Capital. The Artistas Unidos theater company was based there for some years.
In 2013, Bairro Alto's 500th anniversary was celebrated, since the first geometric plan of Lisbon was authorized, when Lopo de Athouguia agreed with the aforadores, Bartolomeu de Andrade and his wife, Francisca Cordovil, to divide it into lots.
For these celebrations, an extended program was created with permanent openness to proposals from interested parties, particularly from residents and other economic and cultural agents of Bairro Alto.
The executive committee was made up of the Bairro Alto Residents Association, Irmandade da Misericórdia e de S. Roque de Lisboa, Lisboa Club Rio de Janeiro, Museu da Farmácia and Associação Portuguesa de Livros Alfarrabistas and a wide range of partners.
Currently, Bairro Alto is a quiet and traditional neighborhood in Lisbon during the day, transforming from the beginning of the night into the main place for nightlife and a meeting point for different cultures and generations. It is known as the usual place for young foreigners who are in Lisbon to study under the Erasmus program.
The buildings have been or are being restored, maintaining their original design, which has allowed the installation of new and alternative commercial spaces, ranging from reference stores (such as Leitão & Irmão, Jorge Welsh or Cork & Co) to multi-brand stores and ateliers (such as that of designer Fátima Lopes), as well as tattoo and piercing shops.
The neighborhood has the highest concentration of restaurants and bars in Lisbon, attracting a very diverse public, both national and foreign.
Despite recent works, and the installation of surveillance cameras on some streets, the level of policing has increased significantly in recent times and is usually safe until the bars' normal closing time.
In the last two years there has been a sharp decrease in the crime rate in the neighborhood, contradicting the established idea that it was a place with a higher level of insecurity than normal.
Bairro Alto was classified as a Complex of Public Interest in 2010.
Bairro Alto was built in an orthogonal plan from the beginning of the 16th century and was known as Vila Nova de Andrade.
Its planning and construction are linked to the tsunami of the Lisbon Earthquake of 1531, as Joaquim José Moreira de Mendonça attests.
Bairro Alto is bounded to the West by Rua do Século, to the East by Rua da Misericórdia, to the North by Rua D. Pedro V and to the South by Calçada do Combro, Largo do Calhariz, Rua do Loreto, and Largo de Camões.
In the 1980s, it was Lisbon's best-known nightlife area with countless bars and restaurants, along with fado houses, it acquired a very unique and characteristic life, where different generations come together in search of nightlife.
Little by little it is also becoming clear that it has become sought after as a place to live and its population is being renewed and rejuvenated.
In the 19th century and until the third quarter of the 20th century, the neighborhood was the location of the headquarters of the country's main newspapers and printing presses. Even today, it is possible to find echoes of that time in street names such as Rua Diário de Notícias or Rua do Século.
The neighborhood of the capital, just a stone's throw from Chiado, frequented and inhabited by journalists, writers, artists and students, was also a place for sailors' taverns, charcoal shops and places of ill fame and prostitution, and Vitorino Nemésio alludes to this environment in the novel Mau tempo no canal.
The building where Diário de Notícias was born was later occupied by A Capital (daily closed in 2005), and is now known as Edifício A Capital. The Artistas Unidos theater company was based there for some years.
In 2013, Bairro Alto's 500th anniversary was celebrated, since the first geometric plan of Lisbon was authorized, when Lopo de Athouguia agreed with the aforadores, Bartolomeu de Andrade and his wife, Francisca Cordovil, to divide it into lots.
For these celebrations, an extended program was created with permanent openness to proposals from interested parties, particularly from residents and other economic and cultural agents of Bairro Alto.
The executive committee was made up of the Bairro Alto Residents Association, Irmandade da Misericórdia e de S. Roque de Lisboa, Lisboa Club Rio de Janeiro, Museu da Farmácia and Associação Portuguesa de Livros Alfarrabistas and a wide range of partners.
Currently, Bairro Alto is a quiet and traditional neighborhood in Lisbon during the day, transforming from the beginning of the night into the main place for nightlife and a meeting point for different cultures and generations. It is known as the usual place for young foreigners who are in Lisbon to study under the Erasmus program.
The buildings have been or are being restored, maintaining their original design, which has allowed the installation of new and alternative commercial spaces, ranging from reference stores (such as Leitão & Irmão, Jorge Welsh or Cork & Co) to multi-brand stores and ateliers (such as that of designer Fátima Lopes), as well as tattoo and piercing shops.
The neighborhood has the highest concentration of restaurants and bars in Lisbon, attracting a very diverse public, both national and foreign.
Despite recent works, and the installation of surveillance cameras on some streets, the level of policing has increased significantly in recent times and is usually safe until the bars' normal closing time.
In the last two years there has been a sharp decrease in the crime rate in the neighborhood, contradicting the established idea that it was a place with a higher level of insecurity than normal.
Bairro Alto was classified as a Complex of Public Interest in 2010.
