The Phoenicians founded Lisbon with the name of Alis Ubbo. The Romans re-baptised it Olisippo and this name was gradually changed to Olissipona, Lissapona and lastly Lisboa.
Conquered by the Arabs in the 8th century, it remained under Arabian dominion until its re-conquest by the first King of Portugal in the 12th century. Over the years many expeditions set out from the city, the great journeys of exploration taking place from the 15th to the 17th century.
Destroyed by a terrible earthquake in 1755, Lisbon was almost immediately reconstructed thanks to the Marquis Pombal. The city has lived through two important revolutions. The first took place on October 5th 1910 (the Republican revolt) while the second was on April 25th 1974 (the revolution of the Carnations). Signed on February 13th 1668, the Treaty of Lisbon was an important document in which Spain gave Portugal its independence.