Palácio de Belém

Belém


The salmon-slabbed 16th-century Belém Palace is Portugal's official presidential residence and office (though the country's previous president, Cavaco Silva, chose to live in his own home). Tours in Portuguese, English and French are available on Saturday only, with just 150 spots up for grabs (book in advance via phone or email). Alternatively, the small but fascinating Museu da Presidência da República is open most of the week.

The palace was once used as a royal summer home by King João V and it was here that King José I and his family survived the 1755 earthquake unharmed. After many years of abandonment, it was revived as a royal residence at the end of the 19th century (in 1910 the Portuguese monarchy's last state dinner was held here) and became the official presidential residence in 1951. Tour highlights include Queen Maria I's lion cages in the entrance courtyard (she kept lions as a symbol of Portugal's nationalistic might); the gilded wood ceilings of the striking Golden Room; vivid hand-sewn Portalegre tapestries based on 1945 Alamada paintings in the Empire Room; and the exquisitely manicured Great Garden.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Belém attractions

1. Museu da Presidência da República

0.06 MILES

Portugal's small presidential museum is worth a look for its fascinating state gifts exhibit – note the outrageous 1957 offering from Brazil's Juscelino…

2. Antigo Picadeiro Real

0.13 MILES

Lisbon's original coach museum is now home to just seven of these majestic 18th-century four-wheeled works of art, but it's worth also visiting the…

3. Museu Nacional dos Coches

0.15 MILES

Cinderella wannabes delight in Portugal's most visited museum, which dazzles with its world-class collection of 70 17th- to 19th-century coaches in an…

4. Jardim Botânico Tropical

0.16 MILES

Far from the madding crowd, these botanical gardens bristle with hundreds of species, from date palms to monkey-puzzle trees. Spread across 7 hectares, it…

5. Mosteiro dos Jerónimos

0.26 MILES

Belém’s undisputed heart-stealer is this Unesco-listed monastery. The mosteiro is the stuff of pure fantasy: a fusion of Diogo de Boitaca’s creative…

6. Museu Nacional de Arqueologia

0.33 MILES

Housed in the western wing of Mosteiro dos Jerónimos, the intriguing stash here contains mesolithic flint stones, Egyptian mummies inside elaborately…

7. Museu de Arte, Arquitetura e Tecnologia

0.33 MILES

Lisbon's latest riverfront star is this low-rise, glazed-tiled structure that intriguingly hips and sways into ground-level exhibition halls. Visitors can…

8. Padrão dos Descobrimentos

0.4 MILES

The monolithic Padrão dos Descobrimentos, looking like a caravel ship frozen in midswell, was inaugurated in 1960 on the 500th anniversary of Henry the…