Cacilhas – abandoned shipyards and ruins
(possibly 
on a tour) - 
Cacilhas is a place on the “other” side of the Tagus River, opposite the main city of Lisbon. It was here that a large shipyard operated from the 1960s until it was closed and abandoned. This large complex of industrial ruins and relics is not so much dark in a historical sense, but a delight for those into industrial archaeology and urban exploration (one of those categories overlapping with dark tourism proper). It certainly shows a very different side of Lisbon!
More background info: I found it hard to unearth solid factual background information about this place and often had to rely on sources in Portuguese that I then ran through online translation services – with the concomitant margin for error that this entails. So what follows should be taken with a pinch of salt.
This is as much as I could gather: the Lisnave shipyards were established in the early 1960s, possibly as a successor company of a different name (which may have been “Rocha”, going back to possibly 1937). Operation of the site, aka Margueira Yard, seems to have started in 1967. Thousands of shipyard workers were employed here.
In 1971 the largest of its docks was opened, at that time the very largest dry dock in the world, in fact. At 520m (1700 feet) in length and 90m (300 feet) wide, it was capable of receiving the largest ships in existence. Its designation was “Dock 13”. As part of this dock a gigantic gantry crane was installed, a massive steel structure 65m (215 feet) high and some 120m (400 feet) wide, capable of lifting loads of 300t, such as whole ship engines.
Ambitions of shipbuilding, however, were fairly soon given up and replaced by a focus on ship repairs. Yet competition especially from Asia put the company under pressure. Proceedings were also hampered by some sort of accident that occurred in 1972 (the full nature of this I could not determine).
Towards the end of the 20th century, the Cacilhas Lisnave shipyards were wound up and closed for good in the year 2000. Lisnave as a company still exists but is now headquartered at its shipyard in Sebútal.
The old Margueira shipyards in Cacilhas have been abandoned for a long time, and only parts of it are currently in use – e.g. Dock 13 now seems to be a base for Tagus river ferries when not in operation and at the far end of the complex I saw a large bus and coach car park (for public Lisbon buses).
Parts of the shipyard buildings are said to house art projects, and from photos I’ve seen online (e.g. on Google Maps) I gather that on occasions events like car races have been held on the huge premises.
As regards access other than during such special events, information is scant, patchy and not especially reliable. When I visited Cacilhas just independently, access to the shipyards was not possible. There are “keep out” and “danger” signs on the fence and within the complex I saw police cars patrolling. A car was parked at the former main entrance gate and the security guard inside the vehicle eyed me with suspicion as I wandered past looking into the complex. Trying to squeeze through a small gap in the fence, even if I had managed to fit through, would have been foolhardy and could easily and quickly have resulted in an unwelcome encounter with security staff or police. So I didn’t attempt it.
I searched around online and found some murky info about the possibility of photography tours in Cacilhas that may or may not include access to the old shipyards. However when I tried to follow up the links for prices and availability this merely took me to a general “get-your-guide” website where no Cacilhas shipyard tour could be found.
If anybody could enlighten me as to any such tours, that would be much appreciated!
What there is to see: The giant red gantry crane with the “Lisnave” name on it can even be seen from the waterfront of Lisbon, e.g. from Praça do Comércio. But to get close you have to take a ferry to the other side of the Tagus River. From the ferry terminal of Cacilhas you walk south, past the Barracuda, to get to the open end of Dock 13, with its lock long gone. Inside various vessels are moored, mostly Tagus river ferryboats not in service.
The giant gantry crane stands at the other end of the dock and it’s a truly imposing structure, the more so the closer you get. One of its two legs, the one with the access lift for crane operators, is just behind the shipyard fence, so you can get pretty close to it. But access beyond the fence was not possible when I was there (see above). So I just peeked through the fence and took photos as I made my way south along the perimeter fence.
Just a couple of hundred yards south of the gantry crane you come to the former main gate and shipyard workers’ time clocks. Again, it’s fenced off and there are “keep out” signs. I also saw a security guard car parked behind the fence. So no point trying to squeeze through somehow. So I carried on southward and made do with the views I could get from there. Most interesting looks a ca. ten-storey building that seems to be an empty shell with just concrete columns and floors but no outer walls or windows. I would have loved exploring that. Past some more buildings comes a field with all manner of rusting relics, then there’s a large car park used as a bus depot.
At the end of this you come to an intersection with some ruins on the south side and a set of giant grain silos beyond. These are also impressive industrial ruins – but again access to the interior was not possible when I was there. On and around these silos plenty of street art can be seen, featuring some pretty impressive graffiti.
After yet more dilapidated houses you come to the corner of what looks like a prison wall, with a watchtower and barbed wire at the top. However, this is the wall around the neighbouring naval base. You can walk along the wall towards the riverfront and look into the former shipyard from the south. But again there’s no access to the premises as such.
So I just retraced my steps and walked all the way back towards the ferry terminal. But instead of taking the ferry back straight away I first visited the S164 Barracuda submarine and afterwards explored the centre of Cacilhas a bit and went for an excellent lunch in one of the local seafood restaurants – see below.
The excursion to Cacilhas is definitely worth it, even if there’s no access to the shipyard and its buildings it certainly gives you an experience very different from the old city centre districts … plus you get superb views of the whole of Lisbon’s skyline from the ferry terminal (and the ferry itself), as well as of the mighty Ponte 25 de Abril (see under Lisbon).
Location: on a peninsula on the other side of the Tagus River, opposite the old Lisbon city centre, so not strictly speaking within that city but still part of the larger Lisbon municipality.
Google Maps locators:
Giant gantry crane at Dock 13: [38.6810, -9.1488]
Former main entrance to the shipyards: [38.6793, -9.1495]
Abandoned grain silos: [38.6727, -9.1535]
Naval yard wall: [38.6726, -9.1504]
Cacilhas ferry terminal: [38.6882, -9.1477]
Cais do Sodré ferry terminal: [38.7049, -9.1459]
Cristo Rei statue: [38.6788, -9.1713]
Water museum: [38.6792, -9.1685]
Access and costs: freely accessible only from the outside, although there may be tours of the shipyards too (see above).
Details: The best way to get to Cacilhas is to take a public transport ferry, namely from Cais do Sodré on the north bank of the Tagus River at the bottom of the Bairro Alto/Chiado district. I had my “navigante occasional” electronic ticket (see under Lisbon >access and costs) checked at one of the ticket booths to find out if it was valid for this ferry. It was. So that made it super easy, just like using the metro. The ferry crossing only takes about ten minutes.
From the ferry terminal you could theoretically also get a bus or tram south, but I preferred just walking it all (see above).
There may also be the option of guided tours (especially with a focus on photography) but I haven’t been able to find out definite details and prices (see above).
Time required: I spent ca. four hours in Cacilhas in total (including an extended late lunch and a visit to the S164 Barracuda), and of those a bit under an hour and a half at the former shipyards and industrial complexes. If you can gain access to the shipyard complex, then you could probably add a good few hours to that.
Combinations with other dark destinations: Just to the north of the old shipyard, and near the Cacilhas waterfront, the decommissioned submarine S164 Barracuda has been put in a dry dock and opened to the public as a museum vessel. That’s the most obvious combination, then.
Otherwise see under Lisbon in general.
Combinations with non-dark destinations: The actual suburban district of Cacilhas is not without its charms – so worth a look around, at least along the main pedestrianized street (Rua Cândido dos Reis). One place worth mentioning in particular is the traditional seafood restaurant named after the district’s lighthouse (Farol de Cacilhas) right opposite the ferry terminal. It’s wonderfully old-fashioned, features a large blue-tiled (“azulejo”) image of historic Cacilhas on the far wall and offers an extensive range of dishes, including very budget-friendly grilled sardines and the best Açorda de Gambas that I’ve ever had anywhere (see under Portugal > food & drink).
One major Lisbon icon that dominates the “skyline” of the southern banks of the Tagus River is the huge “Cristo Rei” statue (reminiscent of the more famous equivalent in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) towering over its surroundings atop an even more gigantic pedestal just east of the southern end of the Ponte 25 de Abril in the neighbouring district of Almada. The statue is probably the south bank’s main sight.
Adjacent to this is one of the more unusual attractions in Portugal, the “Museu da Água”, yes, a museum about water (and waterworks)!
