Santa Apolónia Station

Santa Apolónia Station is one of the oldest train stations in Portugal, having been inaugurated in 1865 in a building where there used to be a convent. Originally planned as a railway and river station, it is an important connection point for travellers visiting the Portuguese capital.

Its façade has a neoclassical style. The station nave is 117 meters long, over 24 meters wide and 13 meters high. The materials for its construction were, above all, brick masonry, limestone masonry, wrought iron, pine wood and glass. Infraestruturas de Portugal currently manages the station.

During the Estado Novo regime, Santa Apolónia was frequently used by diplomats, military personnel, and public figures, reinforcing its importance as a gateway to and from Lisbon. At the same time, it was also a crossing point for millions of emigrants in the 1960s and 1970s, who left in search of better living conditions in France and Germany.

In 1981, the monument to the emigrant, a bronze sculpture by Dorita Castel-Branco, was inaugurated in front of the station.

As a train station, it lost importance after the inauguration of Gare do Oriente, in 1998, but hundreds of thousands of people continue to pass through there every year. Since 2007 it has also been the final station for one of Lisbon’s metro lines, and is located very close to the Cruise Port terminal.

Over the years, the station has served as a backdrop for Portuguese and international films and series, due to its classic appearance and privileged location next to the Tagus River.

Since 2022, the five-star hotel The Editory Riverside Santa Apolónia occupies part of the station with a total of 126 rooms alluding to the theme of Portuguese railway heritage.