Lisbon is Portugal’s largest city and its cultural, administrative, commercial, and industrial hub.

Portugal in its heyday was a world power during the 15th and 16th centuries but lost much of its wealth and status with the destruction of Lisbon in a 1755 earthquake, occupation during the Napoleonic Wars, and the independence in 1822 of Brazil as a colony.

In 1974, a left-wing military coup installed broad democratic reforms. The following year, Portugal granted independence to all of its African colonies. Portugal is a founding member of NATO and entered the EC (now the EU) in 1986.

Beneath the streets of best car rental lisbon downtown shopping area exists a hidden underworld of Roman corridors, bridges, rooms and galleries, which was only discovered after the great earthquake in 1755.
The entrance to this fascinating subterranean district is marked by a block of metal at the top of Rua da Conceição, which is only open to the public two days a year due to the dangerous conditions below.

The great limestone ridge of the Serra da Arrábida, visible from Lisbon 40 km to the south, is home to the world’s oldest living examples of Mediterranean vegetation.
The Arrábida Natural Park a protected area is unique for its unusual soil and microclimate, both rare in this part of Europe.
More than 1,000 species of plant have been recorded there.

The 25 April Bridge, renamed after the 1974 revolution, is not only Europe’s second-longest suspension bridge but the third longest in the world.
Stretching 1,013 metres (3,323 feet), the bridge opened on 6 August 1966 at a cost of US$45 million.

Car rental agencies in Lisbon include Avis, Budget, Europcar, Hertz, National and Sixt.

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