My Escapes Portugal Another Lovely Trip to Portugal! Lisbon In Lisbon Again The Vasco da Gama Tower and [...]

The Vasco da Gama Tower and the Vasco da Gama Bridge

Although they're found at the periphery, the Vasco da Gama Tower and the Vasco da Gama Bridge are among Lisbon's most important landmarks.
Certainly worth seeing, but for that, it's best visiting the Parque das Naçoes.

The immense Vasco da Gama Bridge is probably best viewed from Parque das Naçoes.

The best way to get there is by subway - the red line to Oriente Station and from there, it's a short walk away.

Then there's the Vasco da Gama Tower too, which is a 145 m high skyscraper in the same area.

What's interesting is that so many buildings, places are named after Vasco da Gama, the navigator-explorer. He's undoubtedly a key historic figure.

During my visit, I've found that there's also a Crisitano Ronaldo mania in the entire Portugal. But that's another story...

Now, let's see the tower first and then the bridge... shall we?

The Vasco da Gama Tower

It's not a very tall high-rise building with its 22 floors and 145 m of height.

Although Portugal isn't quite the land of skyscrapers, this is a beautiful building. Worth seeing.

The tower was built in 1998 and the hotel in it was established in 2012.

It was named after Vasco da Gama - like many other places, landmarks in Portugal. And especially in Lisbon!

The Vasco da Gama Tower was created for the Expo 98 event.

The World's Fair was held here in Lisbon and some of the buildings were left intact.

There is an observation deck and a restaurant in the disc-shaped component of the tower.

According to various sources - these were closed in 2004.

The Vasco da Gama Bridge

17.2 km (10.7 mi) is the length of the mega structure. And it's Europe's longest bridge.

The height reaches 155 m (pylons) and its longest span is 420 m.
The width is 30 m.

The Vasco da Gama Bridge is one of Portugal's greatest technological achievements. It connects the two banks of the vast Rio Tejo.

This building too was opened in 1998, at the time of the Expo '98.

The World's Fair edition of 1998 also celebrated the 500th anniversary of the discovery of the sea route from Europe to India by Vasco da Gama.

Today, you are required to pay a toll when crossing the bridge. In June 2014 it was 2.60 EUR per passenger car.

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