The oldest traffic sign in the world is in Lisbon
It is in the alleyways of Alfama that we find what is considered the oldest traffic sign in the world, the only one that has survived of the 24 that were put up by order of king D. Pedro II. In Rua do Salvador, near the Portas do Sol, in Alfama, there is an inscription on a wall that may go unnoticed to the most distracted but which is of great historical importance. The marble plaque is, no more and no less, the oldest traffic sign in Lisbon and in the world.
Traffic was a serious matter
In 1668, Lisbon was the vibrant capital of one of the most important kingdoms on the planet. It was home to nobility and merchants, who had to share the narrow streets with the city’s inhabitants.
In times when honour was often washed in blood, traffic disputes could become a serious affair and in the middle of the artery, the Rua do Salvador narrowed considerably. This was already the case before the earthquake.
The Rua do Salvador is today a small artery that makes the way between the Rua das Escolas Gerais and the Rua de São Tomé quicker, and only those who go there on a walk through Lisbon pass by, but in the 17th century it was part of the route that linked the castle to the riverside area of the city of Lisbon and it was one of the busiest streets in the city. And what’s more, it was used by those who had business with the court.
A difficult problem
Imagine two sedan chairs or coaches coming from different directions. Nobody felt obliged to give way. The count because he was more important than the baron, the merchant because he was richer than the other…
A heated argument often broke out between the coachmen, the servants and the lackeys who transported the lords and often ended in a fight.
To prevent conflicts from erupting, King Pedro II ordered that whoever was coming up the hill towards the castle should have priority over whoever was coming down, the latter being forced to retreat to what is now Rua de São Tomé.
The plaque placed on a wall to the right of those going up says:
“ANO DE 1686 / SUA MAJESTADE ORDENA / QUE OS COCHES, SEGES / E LITEIRAS QUE / VIEM DA PORTARIA / DO SALVADOR RECUEVEM / PARA A MESMA PARTE” (YEAR 1686 / HIS MAJESTY ORDERS / THAT THE COACHES, SEGES / E LITEIRAS THAT / VIEM DA PORTARIA / DO SALVADOR RECUEVEM / PARA A MESMA PARTE)
The city was so busy and traffic problems increased to such an extent that King Pedro II put up a total of 24 traffic signs in Lisbon, namely in São Tomé, Largo de Santa Luzia or Calçada de Santa Luzia.
The traffic problem must have been a serious matter in that 18th-century Lisbon, since the monarch did not just put up one or another traffic sign, but even made an equivalent to the Highway Code with penalties that were not at all gentle.
If today we complain about traffic fines, imagine in the second half of the 17th century, when coachmen, lackeys or littersmen were expressly forbidden to use daggers, staffs or any other weapons that could be used in a traffic dispute.
Whoever disobeyed the royal order would pay the exorbitant fine of 2,000 cruzados or even risk being deported to Pernambuco, Baía or Rio de Janeiro, in Brazil.