Santa Justa Lift

Santa Justa lift (Elevador de Santa Justa) is one of the most unique and photographed monuments in Lisbon, Portugal.

Placed in the very heart of Lisbon's downtown, it's a public, vertical transportation system that takes up people from Rua do Ouro (Gold Street) to Largo do Carmo (Carmo Square), 45 metres above.

It was conceived by engineer Raoul Mesnier du Ponsard circa 1890, and officially opened to the public in 1902.

The lift's tower, enclosing two independent wooden cabins, is built of cast iron in a neo-Gothic style. On both sides of the base, beneath the street-level stairway, are situated the lower entrance and exit.

At the top there is an all-round observation platform with a terrace above it, providing an interesting view over the old buildings' roofs below. An iron walkway, supported by a cement pillar, gives access to the aforementioned Lago do Carmo.

As a Portuguese and Lisbon native, I felt that the LEGO's Architecture theme was somehow missing a set dedicated to Portugal's capital, especially that, to my knowledge, no such construction exists anywhere, even in MOC format, dedicated to this particular monument.

Being so, and as this is one of the main touristic attractions for those who visit Lisbon, I believe that it would be the most interesting having this monument included as part of the remarkable LEGO Architecture series.

In the base of the construction I have placed a sidewalk which tries to depict - within this scale's limitations - a little of the so-called 'Portuguese pavement', a typical paving method with art drawings achieved by alternating white limestone with dark basalt small stone cubes.

The construction is modular and consists of about 820 pieces, with the approximate dimensions of 28 cm (L) x 13 cm (W) x 30 cm (H).

I hope you like it and support it. Many thanks!