Top Lisbon Crime Tours

On the 1st of November 1755, at 9:40 in the morning, the ground beneath Lisbon moved. What followed in the next six minutes — and the six hours after that — remains one of the most catastrophic events in European history. This tour tells that story. The real one. Lisbon's Dark History Tour takes you through the streets of the Baixa — the downtown district destroyed by the 1755 earthquake Lisbon still bears the mark of today. All stops are outdoor public spaces — no entry fees, no queues. You'll walk the same ground where tens of thousands of people died in a single morning. Where a king never slept indoors again. Where bodies were loaded onto barges and sunk in the river to prevent disease. And where a ruthless genius named Pombal — the Marquis of Pombal — used the chaos to seize power and reinvent a city, and crush anyone who stood in his way. This tour also visits Europe's most quietly haunted ruin: the Carmo Convent.

Crime, religion and theater techniques combined, make this tour unique. The Inquisition used theater methods to manifest itself in the exercise of power. The auto-da-fé (the most spectacular exhibition of the penitentes and of the penalties) had a very careful preparation that went from the vestments to the songs, passing through the sermons and choreography. At the same time, I will talk about some toponymic alterations throughout the 18th century, before and after the earthquake. There will also be room for a fado about the alley of straw and the origin of the expression "a lot of shit" in the Theater, as well as changes to the patio of comedies and the Palace of the Inquisition, currently the Teatro Nacional Dona Maria II