History
The parish of São Pedro em Alcântara was created on 8 April 1770, following the transfer of the former parish of São Pedro de Alfama. Yet the story of the area begins with the valley itself. Before it was channelled, the Ribeira de Alcântara flowed down to the Tejo and was navigable along part of its course. Its banks supported agriculture, clothes washing, lime kilns, industrial activity and a tidal mill.
Urban settlement increased from the eighteenth century. In the second half of the nineteenth century, Alcântara became one of Lisbon’s leading industrial areas. The Companhia de Fiação e Tecidos Lisbonense, founded in 1838, was one of its major industrial concerns; part of its former premises is now within LX Factory. There were also shipbuilding workshops, the SIDUL refinery and CUF facilities producing soaps, oils and candles. Industrialisation drew a working population and helped establish neighbourhoods, associations, community societies and workers’ movements. In June 1872, the significant strike known as “A Pavorosa” took place.
Railway, port and transport infrastructure reshaped the valley. Construction of the Estação de Santo Amaro began in 1874 to support Carris’s first animal-drawn trams, the “Americanos”. Later railway and port works covered sections of the stream. The channelisation plan was completed in 1939, and construction of the Caneiro de Alcântara began in 1945. The water did not vanish: it still flows beneath Alcântara.