Portuguese Royal Palaces, Castles and other Buildings

[Marengo]

This thread has been created to discuss and show all the places connected to royalty in Portugal, which can be a (former) palace, statue, castle's, etc. Have fun!

[magnik]

List of the palaces List of palaces - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
for example:
Belém Palace - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Pena National Palace - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (I like him)

More here
Anexo:Lista de palácios de Portugal - Wikipédia

[Regina]

My favorite one:

Palácio de Queluz

It's a 18th-century palace located at Queluz (Sintra municipality), in the District of Lisbon.
One of the last great Rococo buildings to be designed in Europe,the palace was conceived as a summer retreat for Dom Pedro of Braganza. It served as a discreet place of incarceration for Queen Maria (his niece) as her descent into madness continued in the years following Dom Pedro's death in 1786.
Following the destruction by fire of the Ajuda Palace in 1794, Queluz Palace became the official residence of the Portuguese Royal Family until 1807.
Queluz's architecture is representative of the final extravagant period of Portuguese culture that followed the discovery of Brazilian gold in 1690. (Wikipedia)


(fotosearch.com) - Pics


As I said, it's my favorite Portuguese Palace. I spent there many saturdays with my grandfather, when I was a small child. I love every corner of this place!
D. Duarte and Dª Isabel chose this Palace for the gala dinner previous to their wedding, in 1995.

[Marengo]

Here some pictures I took of St. Jeronimus Cathedral in Belem, Lisbon where Dom Duarte and Isabel Heredia married. One of the pictures was taken from the top of the monument for the Discoveries, dispite my fear of hights!

[Marengo]

Picture 1: the impressive portal to the Cathedral:



Inside the cathedral are some graves of Portuguese royals. One of the tombs is empty as the place is reserved for King Dom Sebastao, who nver returned from the battle of the 4 Kings in Marocco. Named that way as 4 Kings died, among them King Sebastao. Still there was a legend in Portugal that the King wasn´t dead and would one day return. The tombs are supported by elephants:

[Marengo]

And a picture of the altar. As there isn´t too much light inside the cathedral the picture isn´t too succesfull:

[Regina]

Originally Posted by Marengo

One of the pictures was taken from the top of the monument for the Discoveries, dispite my fear of hights!

Ok, try to climb the portuguese Cristo-Rei (Almada) then
My history teacher was afraid of hights and when she went there with us, she almost died!

Great pictures, I liked this one very much:

[Regina]

Castle of Almourol

The Almourol Castle is situated in a small rocky island, in the middle of the Tagus River, in Portugal The castle was a Knights Templar stronghold used during the Reconquista.

The travel to the Castel is made by boat (10 minuts) and it costs around 5 euros/person.

I took the pictures this last summer:

1

2


View from the castle (to reach the top of it, you have to climb a loooot of narrow stairs!)

v1

v2

v3

v4

v5

[Regina]

Palácio da Pena, Sintra

Palácio da Pena, or "Castelo da Pena" as it is more commonly known, is the most complete and notable example of Portuguese architecture in the Romantic period. It stands on one of the rocky peaks of the Serra de Sintra, and blends in a surprisingly fortunate manner with its natural background of greenery and crags, testifying to the aesthetic potentialities of the project.

The Palace dates back to 1839, when the King Consort Dom Fernando II of Saxe Coburg-Gotha (1816-1885) bought the ruins of the Hieronymite Monastery of Nossa Senhora da Pena and started to adapt it for use as a residence, according to his Romantic taste.

As his director of the works, Baron von Eschwege put into effect the King's revivalist ideas and round the restored ruins of the monastery raised a majestic pastiche inspired by the palaces and castles of Bavaria. Fanciful to an extreme, the architectural fabric of Pena finds much of its inspiration in the Moorish, Gothic and Manueline motifs of Portuguese art, as well as in the Wagnerian spirit of the Schinkel Castles of Central Europe. It is to be noted that of the former 16th Century monastery there were preserved the Manueline cloister and the chapel, the latter with a celebrated Renaissance reredos by the sculptor Nicolau Chanterene.

From PortugalVirtual.pt

pic 1 pic 2

If you like to give looong walks and if you don't have anything better to do, you can avoid the car or the bus and climb all Serra de Sintra till you arrive the Palace... It's a not a very easy task but Serra de Sintra is not the Evarest . It's fantastic how your face skin looks so young when you arrive to the top of the Serra.

[Marengo]

Well, I have been to Sintra and the Palacio de Pena. One of the people in my group assured us that it was only a small walk from the village to the Castle, so we walked...and walked and walked and... for one hour and a half, up the mountain in bad shoes! Anyway, we ended up at a Moorish castle first, from wish we could see the Palacio de Pena. The picture I took was against the sun so it looks miserable but as I walked for 1 hour an a half I wanted the picture anyway. The Pena Palace is nice, especially the location. The rooms are rather depressing. Part of it was an old convent so the rooms are small and dark. And it was forbidden to make pictures inside. Anyway, here are a two of the outside:

[Regina]

Yeah, a small walk...

The Moorish Castle or Castelo dos Mouros

(olhares.com)

[Marengo]

Below in the last picture of Regina you can see the National Palace of Sintra. I took some pictures of it too, but I will only show the two I have without people on it, not very good.

Note the peculiar chimneys, which have become a symbol of the city.




The ceiling of one of the rooms:



More information here.

The facade of the palace

A courtyard

Overview

[Elsa M.]

Originally Posted by Marengo

Well, I have been to Sintra and the Palacio de Pena. One of the people in my group assured us that it was only a small walk from the village to the Castle, so we walked...and walked and walked and... for one hour and a half, up the mountain in bad shoes! Anyway, we ended up at a Moorish castle first, from wish we could see the Palacio de Pena.

Marengo, that happened to me too, first time I went to Sintra! We climbed, climbed and climbed... we were lost and we ended at the Moor Castle.
When we finally managed to arrive at Pena, I was so so tired, I didn't enjoy anything there... I was just worried about getting a taxi to come back again!...
I sweared that day I would never ever trust anyone who tells me "it's just a small walk"

[Marengo]

Well, we actually had to walk bac too, since one of the busses was stuk on the road down, and no traffic could pass. But it went ratehr quickly downwards, in 1/3 of the time or so.

Anyway, here a few pictures of the house where Prince D. Henriques was born (also Henri the Navigator) in Porto:



A plate above the door with some information, saly my knowledge of the Portuguese language is not sufficient to be able to translate it:

[Elsa M.]

Originally Posted by Marengo

A plate above the door with some information, saly my knowledge of the Portuguese language is not sufficient to be able to translate it

Nor would it be much of a help, since it's all written in Latin

Basically, it says that Infante D. Henrique was born here in 1394.

[paul1981]

Below is a brief description of the principal royal residences of the Portuguese Royal Family during the Braganca dynasty. I'll try to eventually upload some pictures.

Ribeira Palace (Lisbon)
This palace was the principal home of the royal family in Lisbon from 1511 until 1755. It stood on the waterfront where Commerce Square is today. It was destroyed by the earthquake in 1755 that destroyed most of the city that year.

Ajuda Palace (Lisbon)
After the earthquake the king was afraid to live in any masonry building and a giant wood structure was erected on this site. It burnt to the ground in 1794 and plans for a grand palace were conceived. Work on the new structure began in 1802 for a building that would have been twice the size of the current palace. Due to the French invasion and subsequent fleeing of the royal family to Brazil in 1807 work on the palace was halted. Although refurbished in the 1820s, the palace was never completed due to a lack of funds and or interest. King Luis I was the only monarch to use this as his official palace. It was redecorated by his wife Maria Pia of Savoy. She continued to live there after the king's death in 1889. However, the palace was still used for official receptions given by King Carlos I and King Manuel II. Queen Maria Pia remained here until she was forced to go into exile in 1910.

Necessidades Palace (Lisbon)
This was a convent that King Joao V had built in the 18th century. In 1834, all property of the religious orders in Portugal was confiscated. Subsequently this became the official residence of Queen Maria I and her son King Pedro V. With the outbreak of typhoid in 1861 that killed the King Luis' brothers he chose not to live here and moved into Ajuda instead. King Carlos I would move in here upon his accession to the throne in 1889. This was also the official residence of King Manuel II. Currently this palace is used as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Belem Palace (Lisbon)
Acquired by King Joao V in the 18th century, the palace underwent several alterations throughout the century. Queen Maria II lived here early in her reign whilst Necessidades was undergoing renovations. During the reign of King Luis, this palace was used as a home for visiting foreign dignitaries. After his marriage in 1886, this palace became home to Crown Prince Carlos and his wife Maria Amelia of Orleans. Upon his accession to the throne in 1889, it then reverted to it's previous role as a home for visiting foreign dignitaries. In 1905 Queen Amelia had the former royal riding ring turned into a museum for Portugal's royal coaches. In 1911 Belem Palace became the official residence of Portugal's presidents.

Bemposta Palace (Lisbon)
Acquired by Catherine of Braganca, Queen of England upon her return to Portugal in 1693, she lived here until her death in 1705. In 1707 King Joao V
had the property become part of the estate for the second son of the king. After suffering extensive damage in the earthquake of 1755, the palace was rebuilt in a neo-classical style. King Joao VI used this as his primary residence from 1803 until he fled to Brazil in 1807. He took up residence when he returned to Portugal in 1821 until his death in 1826. It 1834 the palace became crown property however it fell into disuse. In 1850 Queen Maria II gave the palace to the military. Today it serves as Portugal's Military Academy.

Imperial Palace of Rio de Janeiro
Built between 1738-1743, this palace housed the Governors of Rio de Janeiro and Viceroys of Brazil (after 1763). Upon the royal family's arrival in 1808, it became their official residence. It would become the Imperial Palace in 1822 upon Brazil's independence.

Quinta da Boa Vista or Palacio de Sao Cristovao (Rio de Janeiro)
A large home built in 1803, it was given to the Portuguese royal family in 1808. This became the royal family's primary residence during their thirteen-year stay in Rio. Enlarged after 1816, Queen Maria II was born here. It became the primary residence of the Brazilian Imperial Family after 1822.

Palace & Convent of Mafra (Mafra)
Built between 1717-1755, this massive convent was built by King Joao V with the wealth that Brazilian gold brought to his court. The royal palace is itself occupies a portion of the building and was used as a hunting lodge by the kings of Portugal. The huge Tapada de Mafra was a large royal hunting ground for deer. King Carlos had a small hunting lodge built on the grounds.

Palace of Queluz (Queluz)
A rococo style palace built from 1747-1786. The palace was the primary residence of Queen Maria I. King Joao VI also lived here from 1794-1803. Pedro IV died here in 1834 after having abdicated both his thrones. It was little used afterwards and in 190