“We are very committed to obtaining the classification of Baixa Pombalina as a World Heritage Site. Lisbon is a unique city: historic and innovative, traditional and cosmopolitan, with a unique identity, but always open to the world”, says the mayor of Lisbon, Carlos Moedas (PSD).

The mayor highlights the city’s heritage assets, “in particular those that recall the impressive capacity of response that the Portuguese people had to the 1755 earthquake, one of the most destructive ever”, considering that “they are endowed with an exceptional universal value and deserve to be distinguished and protected”.

Baixa Pombalina’s candidacy process for the distinction awarded by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), to protect sites of exceptional universal value, took place during 2022 and the application will be formalised today.

The Lisbon City Council considers “fundamental” the inclusion of the area in the Indicative List of Portugal, which is periodically revised, so that “a future classification is possible, justified by the exceptionality of this historic area and its contributions to the history of humanity”.

Carlos Moedas says that Baixa Pombalina “is a unique monumental site”, where “multiple buildings of recognised historical and patrimonial value are located, which represent different eras and conserve their authenticity”, referring that there are more than a dozen national monuments , as well as various complexes, monuments and properties of public interest.

One of the properties is the Torreão Poente da Praça do Comércio, “a building that in itself is a museum piece, dating from the final period of reconstruction of the Baixa after the 1755 earthquake, and that will be subject to requalification to house a nucleus of the Museum Lisbon”, informs the municipality.

Lisbon, says the municipality, is considered the first modern city in the West, which influenced the creation of other important cities in Europe and the world through the innovative reconstruction of Baixa Pombalina, completed three years after the 1755 earthquake.

In addition, he adds, “the value of this asset has not stagnated over time, maintaining a current, functional and adaptable model to new uses”.