by
Eugénio dos Santos and
Carlos Mardel. The Pombaline Baixa is an elegant district, primarily constructed after the
1755 Lisbon earthquake. It takes its name from
the 1st Marquis of Pombal, the
prime minister to
Joseph I of Portugal from 1750 to 1777 and key figure of
the Enlightenment in Portugal, who took the lead in ordering the rebuilding of Lisbon after the 1755 earthquake. The
Marquis of Pombal imposed strict conditions on rebuilding the city, and the current grid pattern strongly differs from the organic streetplan that characterised the district before the earthquake. The Pombaline Baixa is one of the first examples of
earthquake-resistant construction. Architectural models were tested by having troops march around them to simulate an earthquake. Notable features of Pombaline structures include the
Pombaline cage, a symmetrical wood-lattice framework aimed at distributing earthquake force, and inter-terrace walls that are built higher than roof timbers to reduce fire contagion. It was placed on Portugal's "tentative list" of potential
World Heritage Sites on 7 December 2004, which declares it superior to the planned areas in
Edinburgh,
Turin and
London; in particular, the submission states that the plans for the reconstruction of London after the
Great Fire in 1666 "does not implement overall principles" like those achieved in the Pombaline. ==Landmarks==