Palácio Nacional da Ajuda

The Ajuda National Palace is the Lisbon home of the last kings of Portugal: a vast neoclassical palace begun in 1795 on the heights above Belém, after fire destroyed the royal wooden barracks that had housed the court since the earthquake. Inside, the authentic royal apartments of the 19th century survive almost untouched, from the Throne Room to the private rooms of King Luís and Queen Maria Pia.

The court of the last kings

Works began under Queen Maria I — slow, interrupted by the French invasions and the civil wars, and never fully completed: the palace you visit is roughly a third of what was planned. It is also astonishingly rich: the only painting by El Greco in Portugal, the gold and silver of the Royal Table, tapestries, sculpture and the private chapel, alongside the Royal Library of Ajuda with some 150,000 volumes. Above the Tagus, the palace pairs naturally with the museums of the Belém riverside — the National Museum of Ethnology 与 National Tile Museum across the old town.

What to see

• The state rooms and the Throne Room
• The El Greco painting and the Royal Table silver
• The private apartments of the royal family
• The chapel and the library of Ajuda
• The gardens descending towards Belém

Practical information

The palace stands at Largo da Ajuda, a short bus or tram ride from the centre. It opens from Thursday to Tuesday, 10.00–18.00 (last admission 17.15), closed on Wednesdays; occasional unscheduled closures occur for conservation works. Tickets around €15; allow two hours.

Image credit: Palácio Nacional da Ajuda by Hugo Ferreira — CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.