Penha de França

Penha de França is one of the seven hills of the capital and is located in the eastern part of the city. Its geographical location, at an altitude of 110 meters, provides a privileged view over Lisbon and the Tagus River, with the Penha de França Viewpoint being one of the most visited in the city.

Penha de França is a parish in the municipality of Lisbon, belonging to the Historic Center Zone of the capital, with an area of 2.71 km² and 28,354 inhabitants (2021 census).

The name of the parish comes from its patron saint, Nossa Senhora da Penha de França. Following the administrative reorganization in 2012, the parish almost quadrupled its area and more than doubled its population, reincorporating the territory of the former parish of São João and a small strip of territory previously belonging to the parish of Beato.

At the top of the hill is its most emblematic monument: the Church of Nossa Senhora da Penha de França .

This parish was for centuries an area of farms and vegetable gardens where many Lisboners went for a walk. In its space were erected imposing and majestic Solares, many of which collapsed in the earthquake of 1755, one of the few examples being the current building of the Parish Council.

Once a less attractive neighbourhood, in recent years it has witnessed a growth and diversification of its array of residents, largely due to the recovery of its properties and for not having yet lost its characteristic of a quiet and functional neighbourhood , right in the center of Lisbon.

Penha de França, born at the height of the Discoveries, watched, from Alto do Alperche, next to its Church, the departure and arrival of the ships that gave new worlds to the world. Today, a little like other Lisbon neighborhoods have already experienced, it faces new challenges of renovation and modernization.