The word 'pantheon' originally meant 'all the gods' in ancient Greek. The original Pantheon was a temple built in Rome nearly 2000 years ago which was later converted into a church and can still be visited today. Lisbon's own Pantheon started out as a church which is now a monument to the country's heroes.
It is one of several similar national tombs which you can find in places as far flung as Paris and Paraguay.
The Pantheon's pristine white stone walls are topped by a dome that was finished in only 1966.
It took so long for the church to be completed that 'Santa Engracia's works' became a byword for anything else that was likely never to be finished. The honorees who are buried or memorialised inside include Portuguese presidents, writers and explorers.
The only name I recognised from my history books is Vasco de Gama, the seafarer who discovered the sailing route from Portugal to India by travelling around Africa over 500 years ago. Being able to avoid enemy warships in the Mediterranean and risky land crossings through the deserts of Africa or the Middle East enabled the Portuguese to establish a monopoly on the spice trade.
Hard to believe, but at the time things we take for granted like peppercorns and cinnamon were as valuable as gold. The Portuguese profited immensely and Lisbon was one of the world's largest and richest cities until it was flattened in an earthquake (more on that later). As for de Gama, he died of malaria during a trading expedition and his body was buried in Lisbon at the monastery in Belem (again, more on that later). The Pantheon has a memorial cenotaph dedicated to him.
Only one woman is honoured in the building. Amalia was a local singer known as the 'Queen of Fado' (a traditional Portuguese style) who died in 1999. She is the most recent addition to the Pantheon and clearly the most missed, judging by the fresh bouquets of flowers still laid by her side on a regular basis.
The entry ticket to the Pantheon also allows visitors to climb the stairs up and out onto the rooftop terrace.
There are wonderful views in all directions...
...an eagle-eye's view of the sinuous streets below,
including the 'thieves market'.
On the way down it's possible to admire the geometric tiles in the floor below...
and take a close-up view of the dome.
It's a beautiful building inside and out, well worth a visit!
Although only maybe a half mile at the most from our holiday apartment, it felt much further because of all the hills and confusing streets in between. From here we headed straight downhill to a train station on the riverfront which also linked into the underground metro for a trip back home for a late lunch.
Click back next time as we tackle another hilltop viewpoint, the city's castle.
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