Santa Justa Lift

Look up: that tower of openwork iron, almost Gothic lace in metal, is one of the most photographed urban lifts in Europe. It was built to solve a very Lisbon problem: the hills.

1A fix for the hill

Between the Baixa, flat and full of shops, and Largo do Carmo there is a steep drop. In the late nineteenth century Lisbon tackled its slopes with funiculars and lifts, and this was the boldest of them: a vertical tower joined to the hillside by a walkway.

It was designed by the engineer Raoul Mesnier du Ponsard, born in Porto to a French family. Work began in 1900 and the lift opened to the public on 10 July 1902. At first it ran on a steam engine; on 6 November 1907 it switched to electricity.

2The Eiffel myth

Plenty of people will tell you that Mesnier was a pupil of Gustave Eiffel. There's no proof of that. What is true is that the lift uses the techniques and materials of the iron architecture that was all the rage in France at the time.

Since 2002 the Santa Justa Lift has been a national monument, and it still runs as public transport.

3What to look out for

• The neo-Gothic decoration of the structure: pointed arches and iron rose windows.
• The upper walkway, leaping over the rooftops to Carmo.
• The cabins of wood and brass, rising and falling inside the tower.