the bridge that changed its name and stayed the same
Inaugurated in 1966 after four years of construction, it was called Ponte Salazar. In 1974, after the Revolução dos Cravos, it became Ponte 25 de Abril. The structure stayed the same: 2,277 metres long, 70 metres above the Tagus, the southern pier with foundations 80 metres below the riverbed, the deepest in the world when it was built.
The resemblance to San Francisco's Golden Gate is no coincidence. Both were built by the same American company, United States Steel Corporation, with the same logic of red steel suspension cables over wide water. Lisboa ended up with its version of the Californian icon, facing the Atlantic instead of the Pacific.
In 1999 a lower deck was added with two rail lines. The bridge went from carrying cars on top to cars on top and trains underneath, with 160,000 vehicles and 174 trains a day. Since 2017, Pilar 7 on the north bank has had an interpretive centre with a panoramic lift that goes up to deck level — the only way to see it up close without being in a car or a train.
The best view isn't from above or from inside. It's from the river, by boat, with the bridge growing as you get closer.
what you'll find
- suspended steel structure, 2,277 metres across the Tagus
- Pilar 7 with interpretive centre and panoramic lift, on the north bank
- views over Lisboa, Almada and Cristo Rei from the Pilar 7 lift
