Bica - Lg. Calhariz
Funicular railway climbing a steep Bairro Alto hillside, carrying passengers since 1892.
Location
About this audio guide
This guide to the Bica funicular in Lisbon traces the work of engineer Raoul Mesnier du Ponsard, who solved the city's steep hills with a set of mechanical climbs before dying far from home in Mozambique. You'll hear how the funicular opened in 1892 as one of four such structures he built across Lisbon, and what happened when the city later tried to modernize it with electricity. Watch the two cars pass each other on the track, moving as counterweights in the balance Mesnier designed.
This audio guide was created using AI.
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