The Marquess of Pombal Square is an important roundabout

Roundabout

A roundabout is the name for a road junction in which traffic moves in one direction around a central island. The word dates from the early 20th century. Roundabouts are common in many countries around the world...

 in the city of Lisbon

Lisbon

Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...

, Portugal

Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

. It is located between the Avenida da Liberdade

Avenida da Liberdade (Lisbon)

Avenida da Liberdade is an important avenue in central Lisbon, in Portugal. It is a 90 metre-wide boulevard, 1100 m long, with ten lanes divided by pedestrian pavements decorated with gardens...

 (Liberty Avenue) and the Eduardo VII Park

Eduardo VII Park

The Eduardo VII Park is a public park in Lisbon, Portugal. The park occupies an area of 26 hectares to the north of the Avenida da Liberdade and the Marquis of Pombal Square, in the centre of the city....

.

The square is the radiating point for various important avenues: Liberdade, Duque de Loulé and Fontes Pereira de Melo, as well as the streets Braamcamp and Joaquim António de Aguiar.

Its name is a reference to Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo, 1st Marquess of Pombal, 1st Count of Oeiras, the mighty prime-minister who ruled Portugal from 1750 to 1777. In the middle of the roundabout there is a large column dedicated to him, built between 1917 and 1934 and created by Adães Bermudes, António Couto and Francisco Santos. A bronze statue of the Marquess is on the top, with a lion - symbol of power - by his side. The Marquis is shown looking towards the Baixa Pombalina, the area of Lisbon that was rebuilt under his direction after the disastrous 1755 Lisbon Earthquake

1755 Lisbon earthquake

The 1755 Lisbon earthquake, also known as the Great Lisbon Earthquake, was a megathrust earthquake that took place on Saturday 1 November 1755, at around 9:40 in the morning. The earthquake was followed by fires and a tsunami, which almost totally destroyed Lisbon in the Kingdom of Portugal, and...

.

The Blue and Yellow lines (Linha Azul and Linha Amarela) of the Lisbon Metro

Lisbon Metro

The Lisbon Metro is the metro system of Lisbon, Portugal. Opened in December 1959, it was the first subway system in Portugal.As of 2011, the four Lisbon subway lines total about in length and comprise 52 stations.- History :- Idea :...

 (Metropolitano de Lisboa) stop at Marquês de Pombal station, which was called Rotunda until March 1998. Eighteen bus lines operated by Carris

Carris

Carris is a public transportation company in Lisbon, Portugal. Carris operates Lisbon's buses, trams, and funiculars. It does not operate the Lisbon Metro. Carris was founded September 18, 1872. A total of 234.4 million passenger boardings were recorded in 2008.As of Dec...

also serve the square.