Tings Lisbon in Graça anno 1930

Before your sightseeing - check out this footage from 1930

A few years ago – around the time we began constructing Tings Lisbon – I discovered the unique footage below: 13 minutes showcasing our entire neighbourhood, filmed in 1930.

This morning, I watched it again for the first time since then. It was a completely different experience, thanks to all the stories and the people we’ve come to know after living our daily lives here in Senhora do Monte for almost five years.

So, I’ve decided to select a few areas from the film and present them with gossip anecdotes, a few facts, and our own personal connections to the people living there, existing businesses, associations, etc.

In the video you see the following churches: Penha de França, S. Vicente de Fora, Graça, Feira da Ladra (the flea market)Graça Miradouro, Miradouro da Senhora do Monte, Miradouro da Santa Luzia, statue of Júlio de Castilho, Estrela d’Ouro … and daily life with charismatic locals.

Foreigners forcing the locals out of their homes is 'old news'

Agapito Serra Fernandes was the head of Bairro Estrela d’Ouro – the beautiful neighbourhood just 100 metres down the road from us.

He was a Galician businessman based in Lisbon, where he owned the beautiful farm, known as Quinta Terra da Senhora do Monte, from 1904, as well as the building on the corner of Rua da Graça, which served as the entrance to the neighbourhood. In other words, he essentially owned the entire hill.

Information about him and his activities is scarce. However, he is credited with building the two-storey houses featuring small yards, small first-floor balconies, and small, affordable flats for the poor workers who previously lived in tents on the hill… or something to that effect. The information is limited and mostly available in Portuguese.

Anyway, Bairro Estrela d’Ouro is very beautiful and charming, with small hidden gems nestled among the Airbnb properties.

Today, the old Quinta operates as an elderly home (the interior is like stepping back 100 years in time), and its attached garden functions as a nursery, producing a bag of organic fruit, vegetables, and flowers every week.

And on the top floor of the red house on the corner to your right – from Rua da Senhora do Monte – we have our local live venue, Camones Cine Bar, which hosts live events every evening.

A few stills from the film

Bairro Estrela d’Ouro is one of Graça’s three architectural gems. The other two are Villa Sousa and Villa Bertha. You can visit all three in under 15 minutes on your way to the flea market, Alfama, Graça Miradouro, or just downtown.

You exit Tings Lisbon (A) and turn right, following the map below. When you reach Villa Sousa (G), stop for a coffee or drink at the legendary Botequim and decide where to go from there.

Enjoy,

/Thomas