Set on Praca Afonso de Albuquerque in the historic Belem district of western Lisbon, the Palacio Nacional de Belem has been the official residence of the Portuguese head of state continuously since the proclamation of the Portuguese Republic in 1910. The palace is a substantial pink-painted complex of buildings developed in stages between the late seventeenth and early twentieth centuries and serves both as the principal working office and the principal ceremonial residence of the current Portuguese president. The original modest seventeenth-century manor house on the site was purchased by King John V of Portugal in 1726 as a small royal hunting and recreational retreat on the western outskirts of central Lisbon. The principal substantial royal expansion of the property was carried out between 1726 and 1750 under the direct supervision of King John V himself, who substantially expanded the modest original manor into a substantial royal palace with around forty principal rooms across three main floors. The palace was famously the principal Portuguese royal residence during the catastrophic Lisbon earthquake of 1 November 1755. The Portuguese royal family had been resident at the western Belem palace on the morning of the earthquake rather than at the principal central Ribeira Palace in the historic Lisbon city centre. The Ribeira Palace and most of the surrounding central royal residences were destroyed during the earthquake and the subsequent fires, while the Belem palace survived substantially intact, providing the principal continuing royal residence during the immediate post-earthquake recovery period. The principal nineteenth-century royal expansion of the palace was carried out between 1862 and 1865 by King Pedro V and the subsequent King Luis I. The new expansion included the substantial principal Ballroom that occupies most of the principal upper floor of the southern wing, the various supplementary royal apartments around the central garden court and the famous Garden of the Order of the Tower and Sword on the western side of the principal palace complex. The palace was converted from the principal Portuguese royal residence into the new presidential office immediately following the proclamation of the Portuguese Republic in October 1910. The first principal residents under the new arrangement were the various early Portuguese presidents including Teofilo Braga and Manuel de Arriaga. The principal current arrangement of the palace as the principal presidential residence and office was substantially confirmed during the 1976 democratic transition under the new democratic Portuguese constitution. The palace is open to the public for guided tours each Saturday morning throughout the year.

Type: Tourist Attraction

Address: Praca Afonso de Albuquerque, Lisbon, Portugal

Opening Date: 01/01/1750