The Marques de Pombal was the prime minister responsible for the rebuilding of Lisbon following the 1755 earthquake. The statue shows him standing on a column with his hand on a lion to symbolize power, and his eyes were directed to the downtown area that he rebuilt. The base of the column is decorated with allegorical images representing Pombal's political, educational, and agricultural reforms. Broken blocks of stone at the foot of the monument and tidal waves flooding the city symbolize the effects of the earthquake. The surrounding paving stones are decorated with a mosaic of Lisbon's coat of arms.
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