Lisbon is one of the few cities in the world offering such a marvellous natural setting. The Tagus River is just a stone’s throw away as you visit the riverfront and port area and the streets full of history featuring the city’s inhabitants and scene of the notable events that shaped the city.
With its clear blue sky and luminous sunlight, Lisbon is a city of colours and contrasts. Its houses, roofs, streets, windows and green spaces reflect the light in myriad tones and shades, creating a stunning scenery for films and photo shoots.Perched atop its seven hills, Lisbon offers breathtaking panoramas from its numerous belvederes. Each vantage point presents a unique spectacle, with St George’s Castle providing an especially stunning view. From here, one can gaze across the Tagus River, the tiny ferry boats crisscrossing the waters, while the majestic 25th Abril Bridge stretches across the horizon, and landmarks such as Rossio Square, the Carmo Convent, the historic Bairro Alto, and Edward VII Park punctuate the cityscape. Lisbon is a city of contrasts, where the old and the new coexist in harmony. It has a rich heritage that reflects its history and culture, but it also has a vibrant and cosmopolitan side that showcases its creativity and innovation. (Lisbon City Council)
The João Mau-Tempo Walking Tour starts at the José Saramago Foundation, where you can learn about the life and work of the author, especially the novel Raised from the Ground. The rest of the tour involves revisiting memories of the arrests and torture of “João Mau-Tempo” by agents of the fascist regime, and the highlight of the tour is a visit to the Aljube Museum. The route journey retraces the character’s first steps towards freedom on his release after spending six months in Caxias Prison.After his arrest, “João Mau-Tempo“ is taken to Lisbon, held for a day at Forte de Caxias prison and then transferred to Aljube prison. He was imprisoned for thirty days in Aljube and six months in Forte de Caxias, having been accused of carrying out subversive actions against the Salazar regime, which consisted mainly of distributing the clandestine newspaper Avante. Like so many political prisoners, he was cruelly tortured, by use of the “statue” method, beaten and humiliated.
Type of tour:
Walking tour
Tour name:
João Mau-Tempo – Resistance and Freedom
Location:
38°42’32”N 9°07’57”W Casa dos Bicos: start of walking tour route
Parish:
Santa Maria Maior
County (distrito):
Lisbon
Route:
Casa dos Bicos – Rua dos Bacalhoeiros – Arco Porta do Mar – Rua Afonso de Albuquerque – Travessa Almargem – Rua São João da Praça – Beco Quebra Costas – Rua do Barão – Rua Augusto Rosa – Museu do Aljube – Largo Santo António da Sé – Largo Madalena – Rua da Madalena – Rua da Alfândega – Praça do Comércio – Avenida Infante Dom Henrique – Terreiro do Paço
Type:
Walking tour
Average distance:
1.5 km
Average duration:
2 hours
Type of surface:
Urban roads
When to visit:
All year
Signage:
Yes
Landowners:
Public right of way
Sights to see:
Next to Largo José Saramago, in Rua dos Bacalhoeiros, there is Casa dos Bicos, which has housed the cultural institution, the José Saramago Foundation, since 2012.
It hosts the permanent exhibition A Semente e os Frutos (Seed and Fruit) by Fernando Gómez Aguilera, which portrays the life and work of José Saramago. Of special note is the section dedicated to the novel Raised from the Ground. You can see the original edition of the book published in 1980, press reviews, and a number of documents providing an insight into the writing of the novel, including the author’s notes and the accounts he gathered in the municipality of Montemor-o-Novo. This bears witness to his stay in Lavre from 18th March to 2nd May 1976 collecting the stories of Alentejo people, the longest period he spent there, besides several other later shorter visits. There follows an excerpt from Ernesto Sampaio’s interview with José Saramago on the occasion of the launch of the book on 22nd February 1980, which provides more details of the writer’s encounter with the people of the Alentejo.
My initial plan for producing a work of literature was to move to the Ribatejo countryside, where I was born, and complete a little translation work I was engaged on (actually a voluminous psychology treatise), while making an attempt at writing the book with a rural setting that I felt the need to create. However, for a number of reasons I had to abandon this project. Also it just didn’t feel right to start exploring my roots at that particular time.
Then I was reminded of the contact I had established in mid-1975 with the UCP “Boa Esperança” cooperative in Lavre when I sent them some books for the library they had been organising. I wrote them a letter asking if I could visit Lavre and what arrangements could be made for board and lodging as well as a small space for a humble wordsmith. The reply was encouraging and the upshot was that I soon found myself in Lavre, staying initially for two months and later for a number of short periods, eventually returning in the possession of over two hundred pages with notes, accounts, stories, historical information, images and ideas, recounting episodes in the lives of Alentejo people, some tragic, others farcical, and many just to do with everyday life. It is easy to gather information like this if you adopt the right approach and are willing to listen. This was the fruit of many conversations based on my method of asking questions and letting people take their time to answer. I went to Lavre, Montemor-o-Novo and Escoural on several occasions, visiting many places – some frequented by people and others where I was on my own. I often spent the whole day out, either alone or with friends. I talked to many people, both young and old, always with the same approach: I would ask questions and listen to what they had to say.
(José Saramago in Diário de Lisboa, 1980)
The exhibition contains many items which enable parallels to be drawn between real life and Saramago’s fiction. For example, there is the testimony of João Besuga, which mentions Zé Rato, on whom the character in the novel “José Gato” is based. There is also the autobiography of João Serra, who provided the basis for the character “João Mau-Tempo”. There is a wealth of other relevant items, such as a little diary with entries in ballpoint pen in alphabetical order in which you can see the real names of estates and places on which fictitious names that were used in the novel were based. In the interview with Ernesto Sampaio, there are insights into how the Alentejo region is depicted in the novel: the author provides many details about the spatial and temporal settings of the narrative.
I believe this book of mine will convey an idea of what the Alentejo was like during the era. And it will also tell people something about what it is like now. For example, there is still violent repression, so things are no different from the time of fascism: there is the same manifestation of hatred for agricultural workers. As for what the Alentejo will be like in the future, I have no doubt: it will be a place where women and men can decide their own destiny. And when will that come to pass? I can’t say. All I know is that in this country I would like to see the kind of fraternity among workers that I found among my friends in the Alentejo. What is emerging is, in a literal sense, a new kind of Portuguese man. And reactionary forces know this and they are afraid. That’s why they insult us, shame us, attack us and kill us. The old world is trying to strangle the new world. In the midst of all this, what does my book try to do? It attempts to bear witness to the current situation. I hope that In the future it will become outdated, irrelevant or, at best, a record for the collective memory, and that will be no small feat. So one day people will be able to say: “This is what life in the Alentejo was like.” Of course, I cannot help but express another, more selfish, desire: that in the future people will still read Raised from the Ground due to some literary value that it may have now or may retain. (Saramago in Diário de Lisboa, 1980)
The João Mau-Tempo Walking Tour continues along Rua dos Bacalhoeiros, then turn right at Arco Porta do Mar. Go up Rua Afonso de Albuquerque and Travessa Almargem, go along Rua São João da Praça and up the steps of Beco Quebra Costas next to the Cathedral. At the top of the steps is Rua do Barão and a short distance away, opposite Rua Augusto Rosa, is where the old Aljube Prison is located.
The former political prison is now the Aljube Museum – Resistance and Freedom. A visit to the museum enables one to understand the suffering of the character “João Mau-Tempo” and all the political prisoners who were incarcerated here. Inspired by the museum’s name, each point of interest on the Lisbon tour is placed under the heading Resistance or Freedom, in accordance with the story of “João Mau-Tempo”.
Resistance
“João Mau-Tempo” is a character who symbolises the resistance of political prisoners during the era of the fascist dictatorship, due to the way in which he resisted torture without giving away his comrades. Before being taken to Caxias, where he was imprisoned for nearly six months, he spent thirty days in solitary confinement in Aljube Prison. In the small, dark cells that were known as “drawers”, we can easily imagine how he suffered.
Thirty days in solitary confinement is a month that doesn’t fit in any normal calendar. However carefully you make your calculations, there are always too many days, it’s an arithmetic invented by mad people, you start counting, one, two, three, twenty-seven, ninety-four, then find you’ve made a mistake, only six days have passed.
(Raised from the Ground, José Saramago, 2018, p. 254)
During those thirty days, “João Mau-Tempo” only left Aljube when he was taken to the PIDE headquarters in Rua António Maria Cardoso for interrogation and torture, for example “stand[ing] like a statue for seventy-two hours” (Raised from the Ground, Saramago, 2018, p. 259), and there were also death threats and endless abuses of his right to physical and moral integrity.
[…] tell me the truth, commie, don’t cover up, if you tell us the whole story you can leave tomorrow for Monte Lavre, and see your children again, and João Mau-Tempo, thinking again of the skeleton of the dog face to face with the partridge, says again, Sir, I’ve told you my story, I was arrested in nineteen forty-five, but since then I’ve never been involved in anything political, and if someone has told you otherwise, he’s lying.
(Raised from the Ground, Saramago, 2018, pp. 258-259)
According to David Frier, the surname ‘Mau-Tempo’ could have been taken from Joaquim Mau-Tempo, who died on 25th April 1973 and is buried in Montemor-o-Novo cemetery. Like his namesake, the character “João Mau-Tempo”, he did not experience the revolution of 25th April 1974 (Frier, 2019). The character “João Mau-Tempo” is based on the real-life figure of João Domingos Serra (1905-1982). In João Serra’s PIDE file there is a prison file, which reads: “Arrested by this police officer in Montemor-o-Novo on 06-07-1949 and detained for interrogation; entered this department on 07-07-1949 and admitted to Caxias Prison Reception (ref. 0.5.190/49). Transferred to Aljube Prison on 08-07-1949 (0.5.193/49). Transferred to Caxias Prison Reception on 08-08-1949 (ref. 0.5.222/49). Released on 23-11-1949 (ref. 0.5.nº331/49).” (Torre do Tombo, 1949). One of João Serra’s torturers was inspector Fernando Gouveia, who is portrayed in the book as “inspector Paveia” ((Raised from the Ground, Saramago, 2018, p. 255). One of the fascist agents most feared by communists, he was known for the extreme brutality of his interrogations and was responsible for the incarceration of hundreds of PCP activists, leaders and party cadres (cf. Pimentel, 2008).
Freedom
Leaving Aljube Museum, go down Rua Augusto Rosa to Largo Santo António da Sé. The attentive visitor will realise that this route is the same as the one that “João Mau-Tempo” was taken on to the former PIDE headquarters.
But here is this hound leading me through the deserted streets, at least it’s a lovely night, although all I can see of it is this corridor of sky between the buildings, and to the left the cathedral, and to the right another smaller church, Santo António, and further on the Madalena, neither small nor large, it’s a street of churches, I am under the protection of the heavenly host, and perhaps that’s why this hound speaks rather gently.
(Raised from the Ground, Saramago, 2018, pp. 256-257)
After six months in Caxias Prison, “João Mau-Tempo” is released: a guard leaves him outside the gate of Aljube Prison. As indicated in the book, he turned left at the Madalena Church and went down the street with the same name.
It was dark when the van dropped João Mau-Tempo at the door of Aljube, it seems that this devilish Black Maria knows no other roads … João Mau-Tempo picks up his bag and his suitcase and heads back down the road, he can barely walk, he’s limping, he seems to recall that the station is off towards the left, but he’s afraid he might get lost, that’s why he asks passer-by, who tells him, Yes, you’re going in the right direction …
(Raised from the Ground, Saramago, 2018, p. 271, pp. 273-274)
Leaving Aljube Museum, go along Rua Augusto Rosa and Rua Santo António da Sé until you get to Largo Madalena square, tracing in part the route followed by “João Mau Tempo” when he was taken to the old PIDE headquarters in Rua António Maria Cardoso. Go round the square and turn left into Rua da Madalena, tracing the route followed by “João Mau-Tempo” on his release and return to “Monte Lavre”. You will come to Rua da Alfândega and a few metres on, there is Praça do Comércio.
Resistance
Following his arrest, “João Mau-Tempo” is taken to Lisbon. Accompanied off the ferry-boat by two guards, he is taken across Praça do Comércio and on to the PIDE headquarters, where he awaits his fate at the “house of patience” (Raised from the Ground, Saramago, 2018, p. 249).
Let us also pass over without much comment the journey through the city, the trams, the many cars, the passers-by, the statue of Dom José on his horse, now which one is the horse’s right leg,* João Mau-Tempo recognises the various places, how could one forget such a big square and the arches, bigger than those in Giraldo square in Évora …
* This is an untranslatable Portuguese joke: ‘Qual é a pata direita do cavalo de Dom Jose?’ ‘Which is the right leg of Dom Jose’s horse? because the horse’s left leg is straight (direita) and the right leg (direita also means ‘right’) is bent. (Raised from the Ground, Saramago, 2018, pp. 248-249.)
Freedom
Having been released, “João Mau-Tempo” walks back across Praça do Comércio on his way to Terreiro do Paço ferry-boat station.
And what if there isn’t a boat and a train, and João Mau-Tempo says simply, Then I’ll spend the night in the station, there’s sure to be a bench there, it’s a shame it’s so cold, but I’m used to that, thanks very much for your help, and having said this, he moves off, but the other man says, I’ll come with you, let me carry that bag for you, and João Mau-Tempo hesitates, but having spent six months with humane and generous men, who looked after him, taught him, gave him tobacco and money for the journey, it seems churlish to distrust this man, so he hands him the bag, the city can be full of surprises, and off they go, down the remaining streets, as far as the big square, under the arcade and into the station … (Raised from the Ground, Saramago, 2018, p. 274)
As can be understood from the work of José Saramago, resistance against fascism required great sacrifices. The violent repression of mass demonstrations was terrifying, and resistance could only prevail through camaraderie, especially among political prisoners, as José Saramago clearly conveys when describing the relationship between “João Mau-Tempo” and his fellow prisoners;
João Mau-Tempo will be here for twenty-four hours. He won’t have much opportunity to talk, although the following day a prisoner will come up to him and will begin to say, Listen, friend, we don’t know why you’re here, but for your own sake take my advice. … João Mau-Tempo proved very popular there, and once, coming across a fellow prisoner smoking, he asked him for a cigarette, which was rather cheeky, given that he didn’t know him from Adam, but and other prisoners immediately offered him tobacco too, and best of all was when another man who had heard their conversation, came bearing an ounce of superior tobacco, a pack of cigarette papers and a box of matches, Just say if you need anything, comrade, it’s share and share alike here, you can imagine João Mau-Tempo’s feelings, with the first puff he grew six inches, with the second he returned to his normal height, but greatly fortified, a diminutive figure among the other men, who smiled as they watched him smoking. (Raised from the Ground, Saramago, 2018, pp. 252-253, p. 262)
Many workers from the municipality of Montemor-o-Novo ended up in the dungeons of political prisons, João Serra among them, and great friendships were often forged in prison, as his son, António Serra, tells us.
“In Caxias he actually met this guy from Montemor, whose surname, if I’m not mistaken, was Catarro, who became a great friend of his. They were especially close because he taught him how to resist the torture without grassing on anyone. It wasn’t my father’s intention to do this, but the methods used were so brutal, and he was treated so badly that he feared that he would break under torture. This guy told him what he had to do so as not to give his comrades away. It was he who gave him tobacco, and they became great friends.” (Serra, 2019).
Crossing Praça do Comércio, we come to Terreiro do Paço Ferry-boat Station, the end of the Lisbon walking tour. It was here that, following his arrest, “João Mau-Tempo” is taken, and disembarks with a police escort as “king of Portugal”, as Saramago narrates. Later, following his release from prison, this is where he catches the ferry on his way back home. At the station, he has great difficulty as he is in a poor physical condition and has no money.
Resistance
Officer “Joseph Calmedo” arrests “João Mau-Tempo” in the normal course of his daily duties. The author compares the existence of workers to the life of insects crawling on the ground. A group of prisoners are taken to “Monte Lavre” GNR police station, including “João Mau-Tempo”, who is described as “the ant that raises its head like a dog” (Raised from the Ground, Saramago, 2018, p. 241). From there he is taken to Vendas Novas GNR station and then on another “excursion” to Lisbon.
Then there was the boat to Terreiro do Paço (…) But João Mau-Tempo will only learn later on that he is the son of the king and sole heir to the throne, three cheers for King João Mau-Tempo, king of Portugal, the boat moors at the pontoon, and the man who was asleep wakes up, and by the time he does so, there are two men standing over him …
(Raised from the Ground, Saramago, 2018, p. 253)
Freedom
Having been released from prison, after crossing Praça do Comércio square, “João Mau-Tempo” finally arrives at Terreiro do Paço ferry-boat station, accompanied by “Ricardo Reis” from Alfama, the husband of “Ermelinda”. Reis, ill at ease with the spectacle of the world, decides to help “João Mau-Tempo”.
João Mau-Tempo has difficulty understanding the timetable, all those tiny figures, and the man helps him, running his finger down the columns, No, there’s no train, the earliest one is tomorrow morning, and when he hears this João Mau-Tempo is already looking for a place where he can curl up … The man is older than João Mau-Tempo, but stronger and quicker on his feet, indeed, he has to slow down to accommodate the painful pace of the man raised from the dead, and to cheer him up, he says, I live just near here, in Alfama, and turns off down Rua da Alfândega, and João Mau-Tempo is already feeling better, then they set off down damp, steep-sided alleyways, well, in this weather it’s hardly surprising they’re damp, a door, the narrowest of stairways, an attic room … (Raised from the Ground, Saramago, 2018, pp. 274-275).
Before the Lisbon walking tour ends, in Terreiro do Paço square, remember that it was here that “Faustina Mau-tempo” disembarked, on travelling to Lisbon to visit her husband in Caxias Prison, and later took a train to Caxias.
“Faustina Mau-Tempo took off her tight shoes, to which her feet were not accustomed, and was left in her stocking feet, this, however, was a big mistake, and only someone with no heart could laugh, this is the kind of humiliation that burns itself into the memory for the rest of one’s life, the tarmac had half-melted in the heat and her stockings stuck fast as soon as she planted her feet on it, and the more she pulled, the more the stockings stretched, it was like a circus act, the funniest of the season, enough, enough, the clown’s mother has just died, and everyone is crying, the clown isn’t funny, he’s frightened, and that is how we feel about Faustina Mau-Tempo, and we form a screen so that her friend can help her off with her stockings, modestly, for women who have only ever known one man are incurably shy, and now she’s barefoot, and we can go home, and if any of us do smile, it’s out of tenderness.
(Saramago, 2014, pp. 267-268)
The character “Faustina Mau-Tempo” is based on the historic figure of Júlia Perpétua de Oliveira. António Serra, her son, narrates the episode when Júlia de Oliveira went to visit João Serra in Caxias Prison.
“So my mother went to visit my father. She borrowed the money for the journey. She asked a gentleman called Liberato, who was the foreman of Casa Frade. He lent her the money and she went with my sister, Maria Perpétua, to visit him in Caxias. When they saw him he was just skin and bones. And to think, we’re hungry here. And that was it, from then on João Serra became a communist. When he was released, he had some difficulty: they only gave him more work because he was a hard worker.” (Serra, 2019).
