Next week I’ll be in Lisbon, and one of my first stops will be Livraria Bertrand, the world’s oldest operating bookstore.
Founded in 1732, Bertrand has lived through almost three centuries of Portuguese history. What fascinates me is not simply its age, but why it’s still alive. The answer, it turns out, begins in catastrophe.
In 1755, a massive earthquake leveled much of Lisbon. Fires raged, tsunamis struck the coast, and entire neighborhoods disappeared. Bertrand’s original shop was destroyed. One of the partners considered abandoning the business altogether.
But another refused. Instead, Bertrand moved temporarily into a modest space near a chapel on the city’s edge, and then, in 1773, reopened on Rua Garrett in Chiado — the address it still calls home. That move mattered.
Rua Garrett was part of the Marquis of Pombal’s radical rebuilding of downtown Lisbon. The city’s new architecture, the so-called “gaiola pombalina” or Pombaline cage, used timber lattices buried within masonry walls. This cage flexed during tremors, making the buildings among the world’s earliest earthquake-resistant structures.
According to legend, models were tested by soldiers marching in unison to simulate shaking. Bertrand’s survival is thus inseparable from the innovation of its city. Even centuries later, this resilience was tested again. In 1988, a fire tore through Chiado, consuming 18 buildings. Bertrand stood. Once more, it adapted, renovated, and reopened its doors.
For me, Bertrand offers a lesson in endurance. It shows how institutions can absorb shock, adapt to change, and remain faithful to their mission: in this case, to put books in the hands of readers. When I walk through its aisles next week, I’ll be reminded that survival is not about avoiding disaster — it’s about choosing, again and again, to rebuild with a new design.
