Avenidas Novas

-Avenida da República, Campo Pequeno, Holiday Inn Continental, Entrecampos, Saldanha,
Nossa Senhora do Rosário de Fátima, Caixa Geral de Depósitos, Biblioteca Palácio Galveias

Avenida da Republica and some other avenues that are among the widest and most trafficated in Lisbon are situated in a district called Avenidas Novas in Northern Lisbon, close to the airport. Av. da Republica, the largest of them begins at Praça Duque de Saldanha, a large circular square with modern buildings and ends at Praça de Entrecampos with its large monument. Avenidas Novas has more in common with the avenues of Paris then the small scale neighbourhoods in Lisbon's city center. Av. Joao XXI, Av. de Berna and Av. 5 de Outubro are some of the other avenues in the district, where you find restaurants, cafés and stores.

Our second hotel where we stayed, Holiday Inn Continental, a 4-star postmodern highrise building, is situated in this modern area, with a mix of beautiful historic and modern buildings. The hotel has 15 floors and a curved glass facade. The hotel was modern with nice views from the room, and the staff was eager to help. The breakfast was fantastic. The hotel is is adjancent to the 15-storey postmodern 1989 guitar shaped highrise building Antiga sede do BNU, designed by Tomas Taveira, with peach marble and glass, now occupied by the bank Caixa Geral de Depósitos. In the neighbourhood you find Museu Calouste Gulbenkien (a large private arts museum) and Campo Pequeno, a rare beautiful round, red-brick building, that is now not only a bullfighting arena, but also is a shopping center, live venue, cinema, restaurants and parking lot. Unlike Spanish bullfighting, the bull is not killed in the end in the Portugese version. In the Avenidas Novas neighbourhood is also a large, rare beautiful, modern art deco church, Igreja de Nossa Senhora do Rosário de Fátima, a beautiful students library, Biblioteca Palácio Galveias and an enormous bank building with an impressive mix of brutalism and art deco, Caixa Geral de Depósitos. It is the headquarters of Portugal’s largest bank. The Parish Council of Avenidas Novas is located in a beautiful yellow building along Avenida da Republica.