Hilly City of Lisbon Will Add Another Elevator to Transit System

Walking around Lisbon, known as the “City of Seven Hills,” is a feat of calf strength. However, the city’s transportation network is adapting to make it a lot easier. In 2017, an elevator is set to open in the hillside that leads up to the Lisbon Cathedral, according to CityLab.

Lisbon already has one city elevator, the ornate Santa Justa Lift, which opened in 1902 to connect the low-lying Baixa district with the hilltop Carmo square. Trams and funiculars run up and down the city’s hills as well.

The new elevator, tunneled straight through the hillside, will make it easier for less mobile Lisbon residents—and tourists—to get around the city. It will take 13 people at a time from Campo das Cebolas just off the Tagus River up to the cathedral. Since it’s largely underground, only a relatively small structure will be visible from outside the historic cathedral. The elevator will be built out of limestone, according to the Portuguese newspaper Público, to help it blend in with the architecture—though as CityLab rightfully points out, the design by local architects Atelier Bugio looks a little like a public bathroom.

[h/t CityLab]

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