Portuguese urban layouts, symbiosis of cultures
Portuguese urban layouts express the symbiosis of two main cultural references: the
geometry and the regularity, which is a heritage of the Roman culture; and a careful adaptation
to the physical characteristics of the site, which is a heritage of the pre-Roman Mediterranean
culture, later reinforced by the Muslim presence.
This means that, on the one hand, on Portuguese urban layouts there is always a plan, or
an idea of plan, based on a regular geometry. That is the regularity that characterizes Roman
colonial cities, and which became a fundamental component of our urban culture. On the other
hand, in the actual act of construction, this plan is confronted with the site, and adapted to the
site’s physical characteristics. That corresponds to our Mediterranean culture of the territory,
which later on the Muslims came to adopt as part of its own urban strategies, and which is also
an important component of our urban culture.
This symbiosis of principles, apparently contradictory, became one of the main
characteristics of Portuguese urban layouts, and is translated into urban morphologies that,
although when observed in plan do not present an absolute geometrical regularity, when
experienced on the site, they do present a remarkable sense of order and regularity, and at the
same time an intelligent adaptation to the topography, taking advantage of its characteristics.