This is a massive & gorgeous square, located one street over from the Praça da Figueira square, which is where our AirBnB was located. We came to this square initially with our guide on the Sandeman's free walking tour and he told us this Square is more popularly know as Rossio Square and it's considered to be the main central square of Lisbon and the true heart of the city for its inhabitants.
This square has existed in one form or another since the Middle Ages and then as the city expanded, nobles built palaces around this square, due to its proximity to Lisbon Castle.
This square gained notoriety during the Inquisition as the place where the beheadings and executions took place, but ironically, this square is also where one of the Portuguese Kings had a charity hospital built for the locals!
Our guide also told us that a building here was where the Portuguese nobleman of the era met and successfully conspired to overthrow Spain. This Palace of the Independence was the only building in the square to survive the catastrophic 1755 earthquake!
New buildings then built included the Teatro Nacional D. Maria II, and the streets of the Square were also paved with typical Portuguese mosaic. Then came fountains imported from France, the Column of Pedro IV (and the square was also renamed) and other decorative statues.
If walking around the downtown Lisbon area, chances are you will end up coming or crossing this area at least a couple of times so my advice is to definitely take a breather here, sit and relax on the benches or by the side of the fountain and enjoy the architecture and people watching!
Yelp 190/ 2019 read more