{"id":202252,"date":"2026-09-04T10:09:44","date_gmt":"2026-09-04T07:09:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/202252\/"},"modified":"2026-09-04T10:09:46","modified_gmt":"2026-09-04T07:09:46","slug":"a-distant-city-of-familiar-parallels-why-lisbon-needs-no-translation-for-belarusians","status":"publish","type":"longreads","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/202252\/","title":{"rendered":"A distant city of familiar parallels: why Lisbon needs no translation for Belarusians"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n\n \"\"\n
\n
\n\n Lisbon \u2014 the edge of the Earth, a center of attraction\n <\/div>\n \n
\n (myportugalmoments.pt)<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Atlantic stretching thousands of kilometers to the horizon, stunning cuisine, distinctive architecture and quality service \u2014 Portugal and its capital, Lisbon, are rightly among Europe\u2019s top tourist destinations.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Belarusians, this city, popular with tourists from around the world and majestically perched on seven hills where the river meets the ocean, is like a book that requires virtually no translation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Several thousand of our compatriots who settled here after 2020 can read it with ease: programmers and journalists, entrepreneurs and artists, young families with children, including those born already under Portuguese skies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The book is also easy to read for those who come for a short stay, so to speak, just to leaf through it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A walk around Lisbon<\/a> is always more than a tourist itinerary, especially if you keep in mind what the city and the country have been through.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n \"\"\n
\n
\n\n A tram climbing Lisbon\u2019s steep hills \u2014 one of the city\u2019s symbols\n <\/div>\n \n
\n (myportugalmoments.pt)<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

BATE once played here<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

But first, a look back at the recent past.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In September 2009, the author of this article flew to Lisbon with Barysa\u016d football club BATE for a UEFA Europa League group-stage match against Benfica. At the same time, a bus carrying fans and other journalists made a 4,000-kilometer journey from Barysa\u016d to the Portuguese capital across Europe. One of the fans who arrived on that bus met the plane at the airport. Saying, \u201cPublic transport is free today\u201d (as part of European Mobility Week), he flatly insisted that I go with him to explore the city, which he had already had time to see and admire while waiting for the team to arrive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We walked almost without stopping, undeterred by the steep terrain and fatigue. Our colleague, who possessed encyclopedic knowledge, kept talking about Lisbon, which he had read about before the trip and was now reading with his own eyes, without the intermediary of guidebook authors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We used our press credentials to visit several museums, as well as the famous Bel\u00e9m Tower (Torre de Bel\u00e9m<\/em>), free of charge or at a discount. Built in the 16th century, the tower commemorates Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama\u2019s discovery of a sea route to India.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That evening, at the Est\u00e1dio da Luz<\/em> (\u201cStadium of Light\u201d), BATE held its pre-match training session. Anatol Kapski<\/strong>, the club\u2019s owner, who had traveled all over the world, stepped onto the green pitch and said with a blissful smile: \u201cThis is a country I would like to live in.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps he would be living here now if he had not died prematurely in 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BATE lost 0\u20132 that day, and it seems to have been one of the very few defeats that did not upset Kapski too much.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n \"\"\n
\n
\n\n Bel\u00e9m Tower against the backdrop of the 25 de Abril Bridge evokes Portugal\u2019s glorious past\n <\/div>\n \n
\n (myportugalmoments.pt)<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Saudade and \u017eurba<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The next time one of us made it to Lisbon was in 2014, when the Portuguese capital hosted the UEFA Champions League final. There was time not only to watch the game but also to take a closer look at both the city and its people. There turned out to be far more similarities in character than differences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first thing that stood out was that, like us, locals have no sense of grandeur or superiority over others. They see you as an equal. And they observe you first, only opening up afterward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like Belarusians, the Portuguese tend to reflect<\/a> rather than show off. They are a kind of people who take a keen interest in the world around them. For centuries, that world has been harsh toward them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Portuguese language has the word saudade<\/em>. It has no single equivalent in English: it is something between longing, nostalgia and the acute feeling of something that is gone forever. Philosophers call it a key word of the Portuguese soul, an important element of the local mentality<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Belarusians understand this word without lengthy explanations. Their native language has an almost exact equivalent of saudade<\/em> \u2014 \u017eurba<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just as the Portuguese once did, Belarusians today are tormented by longing for time irretrievably lost to dictatorship. In Portugal, that dictatorship was built by economist (and part-time lawyer) Ant\u00f3nio de Salazar<\/strong>; in Belarus, by economist (and part-time historian) Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka<\/strong>, who, if nothing changes, will catch up with his \u201ccolleague\u201d in four years in terms of time in power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n \"\"\n
\n
\n\n Saudade has found profound expression in Portuguese fado music\n <\/div>\n \n
\n (myportugalmoments.pt)<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A Belarusian feels at home with a Portuguese<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Still, when it comes to understanding the local mentality, as well as the city itself, it is better to trust the eyes and ears of someone who has lived here for some time rather than those of a tourist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our compatriot, whom we will call Siarhiej<\/strong>, has lived in Lisbon for more than four years. He works in computer design, a profession that naturally involves thinking in comparisons and images.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPortuguese people reminded me of Belarusians in some way right away. To this day I can\u2019t figure out exactly which part of their character brings this to mind, but I\u2019ve decided for myself that it is a shared trauma of dictatorship. They are also kind and helpful, and pleasantly different from the noisier and more superficial Spaniards. People from northern Portugal may seem rougher and more straightforward, while people from former colonies tend to be more open and cheerful,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LX Factory \u2014 \u201cKastry\u010dnickaja the way it should be\u201d<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There is a place in Lisbon, beneath the nearly two-kilometer-long Ponte 25 de Abril<\/em>, formerly named after Salazar, that will feel painfully familiar to Belarusians, especially on their first visit to the Portuguese capital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is LX Factory<\/strong>, a former 19th-century textile factory turned cultural district. Or, as Siarhiej puts it in more academic terms, a \u201cgentrified neighborhood.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coworking spaces stand alongside galleries, restaurants alongside workshops, while a bookstore with Lisbon\u2019s largest selection of literature occupies a former factory floor. It looks pretty much like Minsk\u2019s Kastry\u010dnickaja Street in its best days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LX Factory is a place loved by the diaspora, regardless of nationality. Here, you feel part of the city without being obliged to assimilate into it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can work, meet people, listen to music, enjoy the traditional Portuguese pastry pastel de nata<\/em><\/a> at an outdoor table \u2014 and speak Belarusian, Ukrainian or Russian without anyone turning around.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n \"\"\n
\n
\n\n Pastel de nata \u2014 a Portuguese pastry in the shape of a puff-pastry cup filled with custard\n <\/div>\n \n
\n (myportugalmoments.pt)<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Similar feelings<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Any analogy between Lisbon\u2019s and Minsk\u2019s landmarks and locations would be rather forced, since their histories and cultures are simply too different, our compatriot stresses. \u201cBut there is a similarity in terms of function and the way they feel,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alfama<\/strong> is arguably the only historic district of Lisbon to have survived the 1755 earthquake. It consists of a maze of narrow medieval streets on a hill, at the foot of which huge cruise ships arrive every day along the Tagus<\/strong><\/a> (Tejo<\/em>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a> The Tagus is a large navigable river increasingly affected by saltwater intrusion. Dolphins and huge jellyfish can be spotted there, and whales occasionally swim in. In Minsk, places with a similar spirit might be the Trinity Suburb with the Svis\u0142a\u010d River and the Upper Town, Siarhiej says, drawing on his experience of exploring every corner of the Belarusian capital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lisbon\u2019s Pra\u00e7a do Com\u00e9rcio<\/strong>, also known as Palace Square<\/strong> (before the 1755 earthquake, the Ribeira Palace stood here), is one of the largest squares in Europe and the site where the penultimate king of Portugal, Carlos I, was assassinated in 1908.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt resembles Kastry\u010dnickaja Square: just as empty and paved with tiles,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n \"\"\n
\n
\n\n Lisbon\u2019s Pra\u00e7a do Com\u00e9rcio is also a waterfront overlooking the Tagus\n <\/div>\n \n
\n (myportugalmoments.pt)<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The square that remembers everything<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Visitors to Lisbon are usually advised to begin their journey here, at Rossio Square<\/strong> (Pra\u00e7a do Rossio<\/em>, also known as Pra\u00e7a de D. Pedro IV<\/em>), Lisbon\u2019s main square, paved with black-and-white cal\u00e7ada portuguesa<\/em>, creating a wave-like pattern or the effect of \u201cfalling waves.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Siarhiej sees a resemblance to Minsk\u2019s Independence Square: \u201cA central, ceremonial city square. A place for meetings and transport, the architectural fa\u00e7ade of the capital. Although Rossio is much older and livelier as a pedestrian space, it is cozy, whereas Independence Square is more monumental and out of proportion with people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fountains, trams, caf\u00e9s with wicker chairs outside, solo tourists and small tour groups. All of this has existed here for decades, and some of it for centuries. There is something almost indecent about this continuity \u2014 especially if you know that this very square and the caf\u00e9s around it once witnessed tragic scenes from European history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the Middle Ages, the Inquisition executed Jews and heretics here. And in 1940\u201341, when neutral Portugal was the only place in Western Europe from which people could board a ship to America, Brazil, Canada and other safe destinations around the world, tens of thousands of Jewish refugees from Germany, Austria, the Netherlands and Poland fleeing the Nazi occupation came here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rumors about visas and available berths on ships circulated by word of mouth in Rossio. People did not simply wait out the disaster here; they waited for salvation. Perhaps there is a particularly powerful symbolism in this for modern Belarusians, who are waiting for better times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, tourists and locals drink coffee in Rossio, pigeons peck at crumbs by the fountains, and the city\u2019s oldest pharmacies and tobacco shops remain open. Nothing indicates what happened here. But once you know, the square looks at you differently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bairro Alto \u2014 Zybickaja done right<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

And a few more observations from our perceptive Siarhiej about the similarities between the two capitals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Bel\u00e9m<\/strong> district<\/a> (Santa Maria de Bel\u00e9m<\/em>), with its parks and museums, is somewhat reminiscent of Pieramo\u017eca\u016d Avenue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n \"\"\n
\n
\n\n Bel\u00e9m district\n <\/div>\n \n
\n (myportugalmoments.pt)<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The restaurant district of Bairro Alto<\/strong>, high on a hill, is \u201cZybickaja done right.\u201d Yet Lisbon \u2014 and Portugal as a whole \u2014 has something Minsk sadly lacks: \u201cThere are many family businesses, restaurants and hair salons where generations of the same family work. They have operated for decades, even centuries, under the same sign, so as you walk around you can encounter everything from carved wooden signs dating back to the 18th century and 1930s neon to Art Deco and modernism.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Castle of S\u00e3o Jorge<\/strong> (Castelo de S\u00e3o Jorge<\/em>) is a visible symbol of the ancient city but, sadly, has no counterpart in the Belarusian capital, where Minsk Castle did not survive. Some administrative buildings from the mid-20th century, however, bear a strong resemblance to Belarusian ones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And Peace Park<\/strong> (Parque da Paz<\/em>) in Almada, part of Greater Lisbon, \u201cbrought back memories of the Slapianka water system,\u201d Siarhiej says, suggesting we take a look at this photo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n \"\"\n
\n
\n\n Almada, Peace Park\n <\/div>\n \n
\n (courtesy photo)<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Largo do Carmo: ruins as a monument<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If you climb up the Bairro Alto hill, you come to a small, quiet square \u2014 Largo do Carmo<\/strong>. It is home to a Gothic Carmelite monastery built in the 14th century and destroyed in the same 1755 earthquake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nothing was rebuilt here. The church nave still stands roofless, open to the sky, with grass growing between the paving stones. In many countries, ruined places of worship that were simply left unrestored have become monuments to important events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This place also remembers another event that, on closer inspection, will inevitably resonate with Belarusians as something familiar, something deeply their own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On April 25, 1974, a peaceful revolution took place in Portugal. Here, soldiers chose flowers instead of bullets, just as the bright posters on the streets of Minsk in the summer of 2020 called for. Here, the Portuguese dictatorship collapsed almost bloodlessly \u2014 an ideal scenario for protests that someone, once, actually managed to achieve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The \u201cCarnation Revolution\u201d was perhaps the most beautiful political event of the 20th century: the dictatorship fell not to bombs but to flowers, and Belarusians can proudly say that they tried to do the same.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Portugal remembers its victory over evil: every year on April 25, it celebrates Freedom Day. In a country that knows what decades without elections and a free press are like, the word \u201cfreedom\u201d has a special meaning \u2014 and Belarusians understand this like no one else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Salazar\u2019s period of rule in Portugal is known as Estado Novo<\/em> (\u201cNew State\u201d). He left behind many infrastructure projects, but none is unequivocally associated with the dictator\u2019s personal wishes or initiative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Salazar\u2019s regime maintained a close alliance between the state and the church and used the image of a Catholic and peaceful Portugal to legitimize itself (sound familiar?). Thus, the Cristo Rei<\/strong> monument \u2014 \u201cChrist, almost like in Brazil\u201d \u2014 located in Almada near the 25 de Abril Bridge, is a visual symbol of the cultural and religious atmosphere of the Estado Novo<\/em>. But its construction was initiated by bishops, not Salazar personally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Its main legacy is not nostalgia for \u201cPortuguese order,\u201d but the memory of an authoritarian state, one-party rule, censorship, political trials, surveillance, repression and colonial wars, Siarhiej stresses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An invitation<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Lisbon offers<\/a> those who have ended up here for longer than planned, or who have come here on a planned excursion, something that is neither assimilation nor a ghetto, but a third option: the right to be yourself in a foreign city that, over time \u2014 regardless of how long you stay \u2014 ceases to be foreign because there are simply too many parallels, too much in common despite the distance and the paradoxical nature of all these coincidences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lisbon is a city that has been through a lot and learned to live by accepting its past and identity. It remembers wartime refugees and revolutionaries with carnations. It has welcomed thousands of people who left different places for different reasons and turned them into something of a distinct phenomenon \u2014 \u201cLisboners by necessity.\u201d It welcomes thousands upon thousands of tourists hungry for experiences and beautiful photos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n \"\"\n
\n
\n\n Lisbon \u2014 the right to be yourself in a foreign city that quickly becomes your own\n <\/div>\n \n
\n (myportugalmoments.pt)<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Lisbon is a city where Portuguese saudade<\/em> is tightly intertwined with Belarusian \u017eurba<\/em> \u2014 and how can one translate words carved into the hearts of generations?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here, April 25 is a real holiday, like our March 25 \u2014 a celebration with so much meaning that sometimes it is hard to explain its importance to someone unfamiliar with it, as if there simply aren\u2019t enough words.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this city, the Belarusian experience finds unexpected reflections at almost every turn, which means that visiting it is definitely a must.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can experience all this on your own. But it is better with a guide who knows the city from the inside. And we have tried to show this through the example of one of our many compatriots who have fallen in love with Lisbon.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My Portugal Moments<\/a><\/strong> is a travel company founded by Belarusians who also live in Lisbon. For them, Portugal has become not merely a tourist destination but a new starting point in life. They know where to find the best pastel de nata<\/em> and what that alley over there is called, why it matters and what you need to know about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But most importantly, they understand and see the city not as a backdrop for beautiful photos, but as a place full of meaning. So, in short, come on in:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\ud83d\udd39Website:\u00a0https:\/\/myportugalmoments.pt<\/a>
\ud83d\udd38Facebook:\u00a0https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/myportugalmoments\/<\/a>
\ud83d\udd38Instagram:\u00a0https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/myportugalmoments<\/a>
\ud83d\udd38TikTok:\u00a0https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@myportugalmoments<\/a>
\ud83d\udd38LinkedIn:\u00a0https:\/\/linkedin.com\/company\/my-portugal-moments<\/a>
\ud83d\udd38YouTube:\u00a0https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@MyPortugalMoments<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n \"\"\n
\n \n <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

* Sponsored content<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Atlantic stretching thousands of kilometers to the horizon, stunning cuisine, distinctive architecture and quality service \u2014 Portugal and its capital, Lisbon, are rightly among Europe\u2019s top tourist destinations. For Belarusians, this city, popular with tourists from around the world and majestically perched on seven hills where the river meets the ocean, is like a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":76,"featured_media":198473,"template":"","rubric":[15],"class_list":["post-202252","longreads","type-longreads","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","rubric-society"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nA distant city of familiar parallels: why Lisbon needs no translation for Belarusians | Pozirk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Atlantic stretching thousands of kilometers to the horizon, stunning cuisine, distinctive architecture and quality service \u2014 Portugal and its capital,\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/202252\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" 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