Santa Apolónia Station is one of the oldest train stations in Portugal, having been inaugurated in 1865 in a building where there used to be a convent. Originally planned as a railway and river station, it is an important connection point for travelers visiting the Portuguese capital.
Its façade has a neoclassical style. The station nave is 117 meters long, over 24 meters wide and 13 meters high. The materials for its construction were, above all, brick masonry, limestone masonry, wrought iron, pine wood and glass. Infraestruturas de Portugal currently manages the station.
Santa Apolónia Station was a crossing point for millions of emigrants who, in the 60s and 70s, arrived and left for France or Germany in search of a better life. In 1981, in front of the train station, the monument to the emigrant was inaugurated, a bronze sculpture by Dorita Castel-Branco.
Enquanto estação de comboios, Santa Apolónia perdeu importância após a inauguração da Gare do Oriente, em 1998, mas continuam a passar por ali centenas de milhares de pessoas por ano. Desde 2007 é também a estação final para uma das linhas de metro de Lisboa, encontrando-se localizada muito próxima do terminal de cruzeiros.
Since 2022, the five-star hotel The Editory Riverside Santa Apolónia occupies part of the station with a total of 126 rooms alluding to the theme of Portuguese railway heritage.
