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View from the Castelo de Sao Jorge in Alfama to the Tejo River, then looking up to the western hills of Bairro Alto and down on the flat, grid-streets of the CBD with its two public squares in Baixa. Video: view the city. Photos on the left: the Mosterio dos Jeronimos (1501) in Belem -- a monument to the wealth of the Age of Discovery as expressed in the unique Portuguese Manueline architectural style. Video: view the inside of this monastery and the 18th-century azulejos tiled refectory. Photos on the right: fashions and fountains. View the Jardim Agricola Tropical, a late 19th century research center for the Institute for Tropical Sciences. All colonial powers had similar gardens, where plants from their respective empires were cultivated for their decorative and productive value.

By Ingolf Vogeler, based on a trip to Portugal in April 2003.