A Walk For Diversity In Lisbon: Walking Tour In Mouraria With A Migrant Guide

Many centuries ago, Lisbon’s central neighborhood Mouraria, located right below the Castelo de São Jorge and directly neighboring the picturesque Alfama quarter, was set up by the Portuguese conquerors to relocate the subordinated Muslim population outside the city walls.

Up until today, Mouraria is considered Lisbon’s most multiethnic neighborhood and can be regarded as a symbol for Lisbon’s image as a truly multicultural European capital, triggered by Portugal’s ancient history and geographical proximity to the African continent. Nowadays, migrants make up around 30 percent of Mouraria’s local community, and over 50 different nationalities are living here side by side.

For the longest time, however, a darker image clung to this district like an overarching shadow, preventing it from revealing its ravishing beauty to the outside world.

As it was home to a large proportion of Lisbon’s poorer immigrant population, Mouraria was widely regarded as an unsafe place, devastated by crime and social and economic tension, and certainly a district better to be avoided.

This walking tour through Mouraria manifests one of the first local initiatives to really promote visits to the district, in order to help this otherwise almost forgotten neighborhood of Lisbon to self-discover its full potential and proudly illustrate its colorful beauty to the outside world. It isn’t only its ever-so-narrow alleyways and steep sets of staircases that make Mouraria so worth to visit, but also its rich and multifaceted cultural history, shaped over centuries by its multiethnic makeup and customs and traditions from all around the world. Mouraria is considered to be the birthplace of the Fado, Portugal’s world-renowned melancholic and mournful music genre, and offers an incomparably colorful palette of flavors and scents, musical tunes and dances, artisan goods and cultural organizations.

Migrantour – New Roots is a European project that aims to promote immigrants and refugees, in the creation of a new narrative about immigration. Have been implemented in 5 countries and 10 European cities.

‘A Walk for Diversity’ is an urban walking tour that promotes the active integration of the refugee and immigrant community into the Portuguese society, demonstrating in full bloom all the benefits and untapped potential of a truly multicultural society. Discover this neighborhood through the eyes of a local as the migrant guides will share their most personal and cultural stories and memories with you during this 2.5-hour walking tour through the alleyways of Mouraria, in an experience that will really stimulate all your senses.