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Updated article.
Did you know that there are currently 11 bandstands of Lisbon? What role do these peculiar structures that we can find all over the city play?
The bandstands are used in the popular festivities and in one-off events and above all, they constitute marks of memories and reference to the citizens, just like we’ve seen in History of the Bandstands, Memories of Liberty and Identity.
Summer is a time of festivities, of living the streets and open spaces. But festivities are incomplete without music. Music is on the streets of Lisbon in rock, jazz, fado and in classical music festivals, covering all different sounds and types of public. Generally for these events temporary stages, equipped with all types of today’s technology are set up.
Get to know Lisbon’s historic neighbourhoods in a guided tour and discover unmissable places of this magnificent city.
The 11 Bandstands of Lisbon
Currently, there are 11 bandstands of Lisbon, but they used to be more than 20.
Many of them were demolished because they were degraded, since they had no use anymore or the space around it suffered urbanistic changes and its place stopped making sense.
But this tendency was turned around. In the last two decades of the 20th century and even recently, new bandstands were built in Lisbon by the autarchy, thus reviving the role of this public element that aggregates communities and promoting local cultural initiatives.
Let’s get to know the 11 bandstands of Lisbon and a bit of the story of each of them.
Bandstand of Estrela Garden
This bandstand was originally located in the garden of Avenida da Liberdade, in the block in front of Rua Rosa Araújo. Inaugurated in August 15, 1894 and it was removed from there after a council resolution of July 28, 1932.
With the increase of traffic and the more commercial occupation of the avenue, the bandstand stopped attracting public at the weekend. It was then dismantled and rebuilt in Estrela Garden, where it still stands today.
It was designed by José Luís Monteiro, an architect of French training who was also responsible for the Rossio Station’s nave, among other reference pieces.
In French style, it is the largest and, arguably, the most beautiful of the Bandstands of Lisbon.
Bandstand of Viscondessa dos Olivais Square
From an unknown author, inaugurated in 1896, it is the bandstand with the oldest and simplest typology, with a square base in brick and masonry. There is no doubt as to its function, seeing that two crossed liras are visible in the four sided hipped roof top, built in wood and plate.
Bandstand of José Fontana Square
Inserted in the urban area of Avenidas Novas, it is located in Henrique Lopes de Mendonça Garden, which was built in the late 80’s of the 19th century.
Here existed a former bandstand built in 1863, demolished in 1909 due to the construction of the Liceu Camões (Camões High School).
It was then approved in 1912 the construction of this new bandstand, a project by José Alexandre Soares, an architect and also a research fellow in Paris and student of José Luís Monteiro. It has dimensions and characteristics very similar to the one of Estrela Garden.
Bandstand of Carnide
Situated in the Coreto Square, it marks the historic centre of Carnide.
In April 1929, its inauguration coincided with the activation of the tram line 13 that brought this zone closer to the centre of Lisbon.
With the strong cyclone of 1941, the bandstand lost its roof top, having only got a new one in 1984, with the authorship of the architect João Parrinha.
Get to know the tradition of the Festivities and the amazing patrimony of the Church of Our Lady of Light in Carnide.
Bandstand of Olival no Beato Square
This bandstand is located in a zone that was strongly industrialised in the end of the 19th century, East Lisbon. In 1894 was created the Sociedade Musical União do Beato that promoted outdoor concerts. But it was not until 1957, the year of the commemoration of 63 years of existence of the band, which was then inactive, that the City Council of Lisbon approved the construction of a bandstand. This is a very simple one, in reinforced concrete, without a roof top and whose steel grating seems to be recent.
Bandstand of the Zoo
It is located in the place of a very old one, ordered built by the Count of Farrobo, the then owner of the farm of the Laranjeiras, in 1841. It was without a doubt a curious construction regrettably demolished in 1935, given the advanced state of degradation, and replaced by a wooden platform.
The current bandstand was built in 1988 and is situated in the free access area of the Lisbon Zoo. It has an octagonal base and each side is covered with tiles that have motifs related to the wildlife.
Bandstand of Parada Garden, Campo de Ourique
It would be surprising if Teófilo Braga Garden or Parada Garden wasn’t equipped for a long time now with a fixed bandstand. In this neighbourhood Campo de Ourique, built in the end of the 19th century, ideologically connoted with republican ideals, it would make sense that there was a bandstand in the centre of its emblematic garden.
However, we do not have any information prior to the current bandstand, which certainly isn’t prior to 1987, since it isn’t registered in the book Os Quiosques de Lisboa (The Kiosks of Lisbon) by Baltazar Matos Caeiro.
Bandstand of Campo das Amoreiras Garden, Charneca
Located in a large garden, near the headquarters of the Banda Musical e Artística da Charneca (Musical and Artistic Band of Charneca), of the Parish Council of Charneca and of the magnificent Quinta Alegre, the bandstand was built around the 90’s.
When it was remodelled in 2001, the tiles of the ceramist José João Gonçalves were added. In them, we can observe representations of locals of the parish and another one of the bandstands of Lisbon, the one of the Galinheiras Square, and a verse by José Carlos Ary dos Santos.
Bandstand of Galinheiras Square
Situated in a more peripheral and multicultural neighbourhood, this bandstand built in the 90’s is a landmark of the place’s identity; a meeting point for cultures and the development of activities aimed to promote social interaction among the population.
Bandstand of Condado Neighbourhood in Marvila
Built as an initiative of the City Council of Lisbon in the late 1990s, it is, just like the previous one, a municipal equipment that aims to contribute to the creation of the identity of a community.
Bandstand of Graça Square
The last of the bandstands of Lisbon that we’ve identified is also the most recent one.
In 2017, with the aim of renovating the Graça Square within the scope of the project “Uma Praça em cada Bairro” (a square in every neighbourhood), several equipment was installed by the City Council of Lisbon, among them a bandstand.
Just like all the other bandstands of the city, this bandstand aims to culturally energise the space and the neighbourhood of Graça, one of the oldest of Lisbon.
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