Chiado, Lisbon

Chiado, Lisbon

Chiado is an upmarket shopping district surrounding a charming square between the neighborhoods of Bairro Alto and Baixa.

Chiado is an upmarket shopping district surrounding a charming square between the neighborhoods of Bairro Alto and Baixa. Named after poet António Ribeiro who was nicknamed chiado, the square has a bronze statue of the poet by sculptor Costa Mota. Most of the 18th-19th century buildings in the area were devastated by the fire of 1988, but were carefully restored thereafter to their original facades, while the interiors were modernized.

The Rua do Carmo and Rua Garrett are lined with trendy boutiques, shoe stores, and jewelry shops. At the heart of Rua do Carmo is the Armazens do Chiado, a high-end shopping mall with 54 retail outlets and several restaurants. The Bertrand Bookstore on Rua Garrett is the oldest operational bookshop in the world, tracing its inauguration back to 1732. Also on Garrett is the Paris em Lisboa, a home décor store that used to source its stock from Paris when it opened in 1888.

For history and culture enthusiasts, the area has no dearth of interesting attractions. The Teatro Nacional São Carlos on Rua Serpa Pinto is an elegant 18th century opera house with Rococo interiors inspired by Italian opera houses. The Museu Nacional de Art Contemporanea, better known as Chiado Museum, showcases contemporary Portuguese art from the late 19th to the 20th century in the former St Francis Convent. The Café A Brasileira at 120 Rua Garrett is a historic café that has a bronze statue of its most famous patron, poet Fernando Pessoa, on the pavement in front. The beautiful churches Igreja do Loreto and Igreja de Nossa Senhora da Encarnacao are also worth a visit.