Praça do Comércio

About this place

This riverside square occupies the area of the royal palace destroyed in the 1755 earthquake. Its redesign formed part of the reconstruction directed by the Marquis of Pombal. The ordered architecture offers a striking view of how Lisbon rebuilt its commercial and administrative heart. The name Terreiro do Paço, or Palace Yard, preserves the memory of the royal residence that once stood here. The reconstructed square gave the waterfront a new public identity after the disaster. Comparing the old name with the surviving architecture helps visitors distinguish the pre-earthquake city from the planned rebuilding that followed.