ABSTRACT
Considered a gateway to the sea and representative of Lisbon’s link to ocean commerce, the Praça do Comércio or Commerce Square in Lisbon’s Baxia district is an orthogonal, highly ordered district that reveals how an urban space plays a role in forming an image of the city and how autocratic dictates influence urban space, architecture and living conditions in the city. Designed as the Baxia’s focal point by Eugénio dos Santos under chief architect Manuel da Maia and the King’s Minister Sabastiao José de Carvalho e Melo, the square is defined on three sides by uniform, arcaded three-story buildings housing governmental agencies with the Tejo river defining its fourth side. Arriving by boat, as was the custom for centuries, a visitor moves north through the square to a triumphal arch that marks the main axial street Rua Augusta. This street leads through the Baxia and ends at the Praça dem Dom Pedro IV more commonly known as the Rossio (Brückelmann 1996: 32-33).
