The meaning of Bairro Alto

The Bairro Alto, formerly known as Vila Nova dos Andrades, is a typical area of Lisbon, narrow cobbled streets adjacent to the areas of Caramel and Chiado, with centuries old houses and small traditional shops. Built more or less in the orthogonal plane at the end of the sixteenth century, the Bairro Alto is one of the most picturesque of the city being bordered on the west by the Century Road, the latter by Mercy Street on the north by King Street Pedro V Street and south of Loreto and the Largo do Calhariz.

The Bairro Alto is divided by the parishes of the Incarnation and Santa Catarina. Since the 80s which is the area's best-known Lisbon night, with many bars and restaurants alongside the fado houses, where they were located also almost all media outlets nationwide distribution. Over the past 20 years has acquired a life of its own and very characteristic, where they cross different generations in search of evening entertainment. Part of the buildings have been or are being recovered, keeping the original design of them, which has allowed the installation of new and alternative commercial premises and are from multi-brand stores to shops and ateliers of tattoos and piercing.

Gradually there is also now being sought as a place to live, and its population to be renewed and refreshed. During the nineteenth century until the third quarter of the twentieth century, the neighborhood housed the headquarters of major newspapers and printing presses in the country. You can still find echoes of that time in street names such as Rua Diario de Noticias or the Street of the Century.

This quarter, one of the most intellectual of the capital, frequented and inhabited by journalists, writers and students, a step the Chiado, was also the place of sailors taverns, places of ill repute and a lot of prostitution. Vitorino Nemesio alludes to this environment in novel Bad weather in the channel. The building where he was born the Daily News was later occupied by Capital (daily extinct in 2005), is today best known for "Building A Capital '. It was in this building that the United Artists Theatre Company was based for a long time. The company abandoned the area some years since the City Council will carry out rehabilitation works.

By Wikipedia