Ponte 25 de Abril

The Ponte 25 de Abril is one of the defining images of the Lisbon region, and Almada is where it touches down on the south bank. The suspension bridge stretches 2.3 kilometres across the Tagus, its distinctive red paint and sweeping cables visible from Cristo Rei, from the Cacilhas waterfront, and from the hills of the old town above. Driving across it gives you a few minutes of extraordinary views: the river, the city, the estuary opening toward the Atlantic.

The bridge carries both road traffic on the upper deck and Fertagus commuter rail trains on a lower deck added in 1999. You cannot walk across it — there is no pedestrian access — but it is worth knowing that the south end, on the Almada side, is near the Cristo Rei sanctuary and visible from multiple viewpoints around the municipality. The bridge anchors almost every photograph taken of Almada or the southern Tagus bank.

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A story
When the bridge opened in August 1966, it was called the Salazar Bridge, after the dictator who commissioned it. After the Carnation Revolution of April 1974 ended the regime, the bridge was renamed to mark the date of the revolution itself. The lower deck, originally only for road traffic, was later fitted with a railway line — an unusual modification that required reinforcing the entire structure. The bridge's visual resemblance to the Golden Gate is not accidental: both were designed by the same American engineering firm, John A. Roebling Sons.

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