Mouraria to Intendente: the cradle of fado and Lisbon's most multicultural streets: a walk in Lisbon

The quarter where Afonso Henriques confined Lisbon's Muslims after 1147, the house of Maria Severa, the first great fadista, and today the city's most multiethnic neighbourhood, about one fifth of residents of Chinese, Bangladeshi, Indian or Pakistani origin (Lisbon Lux). The walk runs downhill through stepped alleys from Largo de São Cristóvão to Martim Moniz, along the fado street Rua do Capelão, then up Rua da Palma to the tiled Largo do Intendente. Start: Largo de São Cristóvão (5 min uphill from Rua da Madalena; Metro Rossio or Baixa-Chiado about 10 min). End: Metro Intendente (Green line).

Best time: Late morning on a weekday, so you reach Zé da Mouraria for lunch (it opens for lunch only); Largo dos Trigueiros is quietest in the morning

The route, stop by stop

1
Largo de São Cristóvão and the fado mural
The Church of São Cristóvão on the square, and down Escadinhas de São Cristóvão a mural paying tribute to fado, painted in 2012. Lunch option next door: O Velho Eurico. 10 min.
2
Largo da Achada
Up the steps of Beco de São Francisco: a small drinking fountain, street art by Andrea Tarli and one of the city's oldest houses, from the 1500s, with Gothic windows. 10 min.
3
Largo dos Trigueiros (Camilla Watson portraits)
Via Rua das Farinhas, Largo da Rosa (castle view, 17th-century Palácio da Rosa) and Rua de São Lourenço. An open-air gallery of portraits of old residents printed on the walls by the British photographer Camilla Watson; more on Beco das Farinhas. Quietest in the morning, with only the fountain to hear. 15 min.
4
Ermida de Nossa Senhora da Saúde
Down the steps to Rua do Arco do Marquês de Alegrete: the small chapel of Our Lady of Good Health on Martim Moniz. A few steps on, the Manueline portal of the old Colégio dos Meninos Órfãos (1549). 10 min.
5
Rua do Capelão, 'the street of fado'
A Portuguese guitar carved in marble marks Mouraria as the cradle of fado; along the street, the 'Portraits of Fado' gallery shows the voices born or raised here, from Maria Severa to Amália's generation. Fernando Maurício, the 'king of Mouraria fado', was born in the house opposite Severa's. 10 min.
6
Casa da Severa and Largo da Severa
Maria Severa Onofriana (1820-1846) lived at Rua do Capelão 35A; the renovated house is now a fado venue. The square is the heart of a part of Mouraria that escaped the 1755 earthquake. Turn into Beco do Jasmim. 10 min.
7
Zé da Mouraria
Rua João do Outeiro: one of the city's most traditional restaurants, lunch only. A few steps away is Casa Fernando Maurício, a three-room museum to the fado singer opened in 2015 (check it is open). 60 min with lunch.
Known as 'that place in Mouraria that is always full', it serves huge platters for little money and lets you linger at the table all afternoon. No photo does justice to the size…
8
Chafariz do Intendente, Rua da Palma
Back through Martim Moniz and up busy Rua da Palma, Lisbon's small Chinatown: a neoclassical drinking fountain of 1824 crowned by an armillary sphere. Opposite, a 1908 building, now a hotel, marks the way into the square. 5 min.
9
Largo do Intendente
The square's landmark is a house covered in tile panels in 1865, used by the Viúva Lamego ceramics factory until 2021: potted plants and Asian figures recall the trade with the East. Next door, A Vida Portuguesa's shop of Portuguese-made goods at no. 23. 15 min.
Revived by the city's requalification of the area, the Intendente square and now gathers cafés, bars such as Casa Independente and the A Vida Portuguesa shop. Its jewel is the…
10
Casa Independente
Largo do Intendente 45, on the same square: end here with a drink. 30 min.
A kitsch old manor house with mismatched vintage rooms, a courtyard and gigs; an alternative-crowd favourite on a square locals reclaimed.

Walking directions

Mouraria to Intendente: the cradle of fado and Lisbon's most multicultural streets

The route, stop by stop

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