Café A Brasileira

NileGuide Expert tip:

Be sure to get your photograph taken with Fernando Pessoa.

Description:

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  Arguably Lisbon's most famous café, the striking Art Nouveau interior is reason enough to pop in and order a bica (espresso) while admiring the carved and panelled wood decoration, huge gilded mirrors and 1920s canvases. The esplanade is equally attractive not least for the bronze statue of revered Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa (1888– 1935) seated at a table outside, an endearing symbol of the café's former pull as a favourite rendezvous of the city's literary set. Today the artwork is a tourist attraction in its own right, and provides a novel photo opportunity for the thousands of visitors who drop by every year. © Nileguide 2011
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  The Café a Brasileira was the famous haunt for artists such Eça de Queiroz and Fernando Pessõa, two heavyweights in Portuguese literature. Pessõa is also famous for drinking plenty of absinthe in this historical place located in the trendy yet traditional neighborhood of Chiado. This bar used to be the center for importing goods from Brazil when it first opened in 1905 and throughout the 1920s it was the location to plant the seeds of revolution amongst several groups in Europe at the time. So walk up to the bar, order some bica (strong Portuguese coffee) and maybe you will hear the murmur of dissidents plotting against the government.
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