The city of Lisbon and King Afonso Henriques is historically tied together. So, before knowing about the statue of King Afonso Henriques, let's know about Lisbon.
Though Lisbon is a city with a very rich and long History, its roots are believed to go as far back as the ancient Mythology. The legend says that, during his great Odissey, the Greek hero Ulysses founded on the calm shores of the Tagus river the most beautiful city in the world, which was named after him Olisippo.
Historically speaking, the hill on which the Castle of St George now stands was previously occupied successively by a Celtic settlement, then a Phoenician, a Greek and a Carthaginian outpost, before becoming the center of the Roman city of Olisippo Felicitas Julia in the 1st century BC.
Following the fall of Rome, Visigoths and Moors chose this privileged site to build their own strongholds.
After four centuries of Muslim presence in al-Us̲h̲būna, as Lisbon was then called, the Castle and the city were conquered in 1147 by the first King of Portugal, Dom Afonso Henriques.
A fact that was somehow fortuitous: in spite of King Afonso Henrique’s great leadership and talent as a tactician, the success of the siege of Lisbon was mainly due to the fortuitous help of northern European knights who were travelling to the Holy Land to participate in the Second Crusade.
This bronze statue represents, King Afonso Henriques, the Conqueror.
It is a replica of the statue located in the northern city of Guimarães, where Portugal was founded, and was donated to Lisbon by the city of Oporto in 1947, as part of the celebration of the 800 years of the conquest of Lisbon.
Now look to the right of the statue. You’ll see a magnificent panoramic view over the entire city of Lisbon.
