Report of the guided tour to the Alcântara and Rocha Conde de Óbidos Maritime Terminals

On the 13 September, 21 members of the Historical Society participated on a guided tour to the Alcântara and Rocha Conde de Óbidos Maritime Terminals on the docks in Lisbon, 800 metres apart. Both terminals feature large murals by the modernist painter Almada Negreiros. No longer used for passengers, the Alcântara terminal contains an interpretation centre – which was recently opened in April 2025 – that describes the history of the terminals and the painting of the murals by Negreiros.

The group first visited the Alcântara terminal (pictured above), which was commissioned in 1934 by the Minister of Works and Communications, Eng. Duarte Pacheco of Salazar’s authoritarian Estado Novo government. Designed by the architect Porfírio Pardal Monteiro (below centre) in an Art Deco style, the original plan was that both the Alcântara and Rocha Conde de Óbidos terminals would be completed in time for the Portuguese World Exhibition in 1940. However budget restraints led to the works only commencing in 1942. The upper floor was largely used by departing passengers, while the ground floor was mainly for customs and baggage reclaim. The upper floor was decorated with massive floor-to-ceiling murals designed and painted by Negreiros. The terminal was inaugurated on 17 July 1943, with a simple ceremony to welcome the steamship Serpa Pinto from Philadelphia (below right).

From the early days of WWII until 1942 there had been considerable passenger liner traffic across the Atlantic, both to Brazil and the US, carrying Jewish refugees in particular (below left). Indeed, in 1940 alone, 60,000 refugees travelled through Lisbon. However, after 1942 this diminished and usage of the terminal remained limited until the war ended, with refugees starting to return to Europe in 1946. The terminals had their peak usage in the 1950s and 1960s, mainly for passengers travelling to and from the Portuguese colonies (below right), including a total of 80,000 soldiers sent to fight independence movements in the African colonies after Congo declared independence in 1960. From the 1970s onwards, air travel became the preferred mode of travel.

Following the 25 de Abril 1974 Revolution, which overthrew the Estado Novo, Portugal's colonies became independent and the Portuguese military, as well as over half a million civilians who lived and worked in the ex-colonies (mainly Angola and Mozambique), returned to their home country, albeit travelling with all they possessed in a few cases (below). International passenger lines continued to operate from the Terminal until the early 1980s, but the Terminal is now closed and modern-day cruise ships dock further to the east, near the Alfama district of Lisbon.

Member Carol Rankin Mason related her memories to the group of embarking from the Terminal as an 8 year old on her way to go to boarding school in England. She remembers the Salão Nobre and the murals and also when her parents travelled to England and their Humber Snipe was lifted aboard in a giant net with the Customs men walking below with sticks of white chalk!

Almada Negreiros had already worked with Monteiro on two previous occasions: painting two stained glass windows for the Church of Our Lady of Fátima, the first modernist church built in Portugal, and works for the Diário de Notícias building, both in Lisbon. He was born in the Portuguese colony of São Tomé and Príncipe in 1893, his father having been the Portuguese Governor of the island. His mother, who was born on the island, was the daughter of a Portuguese rural landowner and an Angolan lady. Almada Negreiros always called himself a futurist artist, however being inspired by modern artists, his style is wider, and does not fit easily into a category. Albeit different, the paintings that Negreiros created for the two terminals have in common the fact that they include depictions of riverside life and the poverty associated with the professions that could be observed along the Tagus. Indeed, his works was considered controversial and for a time there was a danger that the Estado Novo would have them destroyed.

His paintings for the Alcântara terminal, completed in 1945, consist of two triptychs: Nau Catrineta (The ship Catrineta) – from the story of the wreck in the 16th century, when the crew drew lots to be cannibalised by the others; and Quem não viu Lisboa não viu coisa boa (Who has not seen Lisbon, has not seen anything good) – which includes the Aqueduct in the distance as three women workers carry coal on their heads as the dock was still under construction, which was controversial, as they are shown barefoot, as they would only have put them on when Salazar’s police were in sight! There are two separate paintings – one of which depicts the legendary salvation of the Portuguese nobleman D. Fuas Roupinho, whose horse was miraculously stopped from riding over the cliff at Nazaré in pursuit of a deer.

The Rocha do Conde de Óbidos terminal was completed in 1949 and, similar to the Alcântara terminal, it was opened before completion. Being a deeper port, it was the principal port for those travelling to and from the Portuguese colonies in Africa, whereas the Alcântara terminal was used more for trans-Atlantic traffic. Assisted by his wife, the artist Sarah Afonso, Negreiros’ murals at the Rocha do Conde de Óbidos terminal consist of two tryptychs: Domingo Lisboeta (a Lisbon Sunday) – whose central panel depicts two African fisherwomen, which was the first time that Africans had been painted in full plane; and Partida de Emigrantes (The Departure of Emigrants) – including the depiction of a simple family leaving for a new life in an African colony with an air of fear and melancholy. Negreiros is also known for his tapestries that hang in the Hotel Ritz in Lisbon.