The Republic Declared

On October 5, 1910, from the balcony of the City Hall where you stand, lawyer José Relvas declared the end of the Portuguese monarchy at 9 am. With those words, over 700 years of royal rule vanished in a single morning. The revolution had been building for years. In 1908, King Carlos I and his eldest son were shot dead at Commerce Square while riding in an open carriage, greeting crowds in broad daylight.

The assassins fired multiple times before being killed themselves. Portugal was left without a king and without an heir. The young Manuel II became king at just 18 years old, inheriting a nation in crisis. By October 1910, nearly 2,000 soldiers and sailors had rebelled through the streets. The military refused to fight them. When the revolutionaries controlled key positions, the Republic was proclaimed from this very balcony. Writer Teófilo Braga led the provisional government.

Within months, Portugal adopted the green and red flag you see today, the anthem A Portuguesa, and a new constitution in 1911. The fighting killed at least 37 people, with dozens more wounded. King Manuel II fled to exile in Gibraltar, never to return.