Campolide

There is evidence of human occupation in the present-day area of Campolide since Prehistory. Later, the landscape was marked by estates, vineyards, olive groves, quarries and land belonging to religious orders or noble families; stone extraction has been recorded here since the 15th century. An etymological interpretation by David Lopes links the name to “campo de Olide”, with Olide being a name of Arabic origin. Medieval references to Campoliti, Campolidi and the vineyards of Campolide, however, concern a territory larger than today’s civil parish. In the 18th century, the Aqueduto das Águas Livres changed the scale of the area. Its construction brought workers, helped consolidate settlement on the Encosta de Campolide and survives in the name Calçada dos Mestres. By the middle of that century, Campolide de Baixo and Campolide de Cima were recognised as two main settlements, while building also spread along the path now known as Rua de Campolide. The valley was then crossed in the open by the Ribeira de Alcântara. During the 20th century, its covering and channelling radically transformed this geography; the water now runs beneath Avenida de Ceuta and other infrastructure. The affordable housing neighbourhoods of Alto da Serafina and Calçada dos Mestres began to be built in the 1940s, as the Viaduto Duarte Pacheco, the Avenida de Ceuta embankments and other works reshaped the valley. The civil parish was created in 1959. Campolide also had its own role in the 25 April Revolution: Caçadores 5, based in the area, was among the units that set out in the early hours of 1974, and the parish held street celebrations on the revolution’s first anniversary. Today, the paths of Jardim de Campolide, Quinta do Zé Pinto and the Corredor Verde de Monsanto bring the urban fabric back towards the slopes and valley.

The Arco Grande of the Aqueduto das Águas Livres was not designed to loom over empty space. It crosses the Alcântara Valley because the Ribeira de Alcântara once ran through it in the open. At around 65 metres high and 29 metres between its piers, the arch enabled the aqueduct to span the valley without blocking the watercourse. During the 20th century, the stream was channelled and covered; it still flows beneath Avenida de Ceuta and other infrastructure. The result is hard to miss: a monumental arch above a valley crossed by trains, roads and green corridors, while the water that determined its scale has vanished from daily view. Lisbon hid the stream, but left a vast structure marking where it ran.

Aqueduto das Águas Livres · Arco Grande do Aqueduto · Vale de Alcântara · Rua de Campolide · Calçada dos Mestres · Bairro da Liberdade · Bairro do Alto da Serafina · Estação de Campolide · Jardim de Campolide — Jardim Amnistia Internacional · Parque Urbano da Quinta do Zé Pinto · Corredor Verde de Monsanto · Viaduto Duarte Pacheco

View the Aqueduto das Águas Livres from the Alcântara Valley and look for the scale of the Arco Grande. · Find Calçada dos Mestres and connect its name with the work on the aqueduct. · Follow Rua de Campolide, noticing the changes in elevation between the parish’s different settlements. · Move between Bairro da Liberdade and Estação de Campolide to see how closely residential streets and railway infrastructure sit together. · Visit Jardim de Campolide — Jardim Amnistia Internacional and its urban allotment park. · Follow the pedestrian paths in Parque Urbano da Quinta do Zé Pinto. · From the valley, observe the meeting point of aqueduct, railway, viaduct and roads. · Explore the shift from Campolide’s streets to the Corredor Verde de Monsanto.