"Let's Go Downtown After downtown Lisbon was destroyed by an earthquake in 1755, it was rebuilt as a project of Marquês de Pombal. The earthquake had been the worst in Europe, leading to the first neoclassic urban planning and the first large-scale earthquake-proof construction. Streets were given names of shopkeepers and craftsmen—names denoting gold, silver, shoes, saddlery... Now there are new people who are part of the city and specifically of downtown—you have the shoe shiners, street performers, African community at Rossio, and an old man screaming that he's got lottery tickets to sell ("Buy one, try your luck!")."