UNESCO ACCREDITED envoys were received by Lisbon Câmara President, Pedro Santana Lopes, at the town hall recently in a bid to list the city’s Baixa district a World Heritage site.
Invited by the Câmara, UNESCO representatives were shown around Pombaline Lisbon, which was rebuilt along a grid-system under the orders of the Marquês de Pombal, following the devastating 1755 earthquake.
The visit was followed by a meeting chaired by councillor Eduardo Napoleão, who welcomed the envoys, many of whom had never visited Lisbon before. They were presented with a dossier of the candidature bid, were shown a video about the area and heard a talk about its architectural points of interest.
Pedro Santana Lopes said the candidature was important for the renovation of this historic part of the city and added that Lisbon was the European city that presently was investing the most money in public building restoration work.
The representatives, led by the UNESCO National Commission President, José Sasportes, ended the day with a dinner, in which Câmara vice president, Dr. Carmona Rodrigues, explained technical statistics, data and facts and figures about the restoration process currently under way.
