Praça do Comércio, A historic square with a view of the sea and grandeur

The sunset is beautiful on the riverbank directly facing the commercial square

4.2

Introduction

The Commercial Square, also known as Palace Square, is located next to the Tagus River in the Portuguese capital city of Lisbon. This square became a part of the Pombaline Downtown after the destruction of the Ribeira Palace. As the development of Ribeira on the Bank of the Tagus River in the early 16th century, ports, shipbuilding facilities, and administrative buildings were built for managing trade between Portugal and other European countries, as well as African, Asian, and American colonies, such as the India House. However, the devastating Lisbon earthquake on November 1, 1755 destroyed most of the city, including Ribeira Palace and surrounding buildings in the Commercial Square. Marquis of Pombal coordinated the reconstruction work, but the palace was not rebuilt.