Ceuta's Avenue: from limit to path for the growth of Lisbon

Abstract

The perception of the urban history of Alcântara, placed in the evolution of Lisbon, constitutes a fundamental study to understand the importance of Ceuta’s Avenue (Avenida de Ceuta) to the city. The role of Alcântara, as an important interface between the city and the interior of the territory, which contributed for its importance in respect to other areas of the city, also defined its destination as platform of mobility at a regional level. The characteristics of the valley, whose soft slope privileged the traffic for the interior, had attracted the installation of transport infrastructures. In this area, which has long defined itself as an important city edge, it was born one of the main routes for the growth of Lisbon. In 1915, this route was named with an event that also marked the beginning of the Portuguese expansion to the whole world - the Conquest of Ceuta (Avenida da Conquista de Ceuta).