A bit about us
Our 16th-century history
The building of Casa das Varandas, now “Varandas de Lisboa,” dates back to the 16th century and was recommended by King Manuel I in a letter dated 1508.
It is located on Rua dos Bacalhoeiros, formerly known until 1859 as Rua dos Confeiteiros due to the presence of sweet shops. The street later acquired its name from the flourishing codfish trade in the area.
The “Varandas de Lisboa” building is situated in an area where there once stood a defensive wall of the city of Lisbon – the so-called Cerca Velha or Cerca Moura. According to Augusto Vieira da Silva, a prominent historian of Lisbon, this wall had approximately 1,250 meters in total length, 2 to 2.5 meters in thickness, and enclosed an area of approximately 15.6 hectares. The total area of Al-Usbuna, the Arab Lisbon, would have been around 30 hectares – including the walled area and suburbs.
It is known that this building underwent renovations and possible additions during the 1740s by D. Rodrigo de Menezes.
After the earthquake of 1755, which heavily affected its façades, only the stonework of the shops, upper floors, and the three stories with nine iron-railed balconies survived. The building was reconstructed in 1761 by Francisco Crespo.
Finally, after a fire in 1781, there was an intervention from 1803 to 1805 by Domingos José de Sousa, where two additional floors and attic rooms were added. These additional floors, with a continuous rectangular base balcony, connected the two buildings (no. 6 and no. 8), making use of existing walls and ornamental elements.
In 1984, the current owner acquired the Casa das Varandas building, and in 2009, a profound requalification project began, respecting the architectural features of the Pombaline era, with stone arches and the “gaiola pombalina,” an anti-seismic construction system used in Lisbon’s Baixa Pombalina district after the 1755 earthquake, consisting of a three-dimensional wooden structure embedded in masonry walls.
On the main facade, the current Campo das Cebolas square, intervened in 2018, features extensive leisure spaces and a quality public space, previously known as Praça da Ribeira Velha before the 1755 earthquake, where one of Lisbon’s best fish markets stood for 200 years.
