de Mateus (Vila Real): Familiar around the world to fans of the rosé wine that bears its name and image on the label, this is the most beautiful of the baroque manor houses scattered around the wine lands of northern Portugal. The reflecting pool out front perfectly duplicates the white-and-gray stone facade with its double staircase and decorative spires, partly the work of the great Italian architect Nicolau Nasoni in the 1740s. It’s surrounded by delightful formal gardens. See
p. 407.
Palácio de Mafra (Mafra): This was originally supposed to be a convent, but King João V decided he’d spend some of his Brazilian gold-mine riches expanding it. The result is a monster-size mix of church and royal residence covering an area bigger than seven football fields. Completed in 1755, its vast yellow-painted facade dominates the little town of Mafra. Inside, the royal apartments and old hospital are well worth visiting, but the real treasure is the rococo library lined with almost 40,000 books dating back to the 14th century. UNESCO declared it a World Heritage site in 2019. See p. 171.
Portugal’s best Museums
Museu Calouste Gulbenkian (Lisbon): If you go to one museum in Portugal, this should be it. Whatever your taste in art—from ancient Egyptian funeral masks to French Impressionist paintings, Persian carpets to Lalique jewelry—you’re sure to find something interesting. The remarkable collection was amassed by Armenian oil magnate Calouste Gulbenkian (1869–1955), who found a home in neutral Portugal during World War II. The museum complex also includes concert halls and a separate modern art museum, all housed in discreet 1960s buildings integrated into shady gardens that are a peaceful getaway in the heart of the city. See p. 116.
Museu Nacional do Azulejo (Lisbon): Wherever you go in Portugal you’ll see azulejos—painted ceramic tiles used to decorate buildings inside and out, from ancient churches to modern metro stations. The best place to understand this thoroughly Portuguese art form is this museum situated in a 16th-century convent in Lisbon’s riverside Madre de Deus neighborhood. The collection contains tiles dating back over 600 years. Highlights include a giant panel showing Lisbon before the great earthquake of 1755 and the convent church filled with tiles and gold leaf. See p. 113.
Serralves (Porto): Porto’s modern art museum is housed in a fine Art Deco villa and a purpose-built contemporary gallery designed by local architect Álvaro Siza Vieira. It holds a huge collection of Portuguese and international art from the 20th and 21st centuries and hosts temporary exhibitions, serving as the most dynamic cultural center in the north. Its latest big acquisition was more than 80 works by Spanish surrealist Joan Miró. See p. 343.
Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga (Lisbon): The country’s best collection of Portuguese and international painting is housed in a 17th-century palace high on a cliff overlooking the River Tagus. Much of the collection was brought together from monasteries and noble homes after the civil war of the 1830s. Among the highlights: the nightmarish Temptations of St. Anthony by Hieronymus Bosch; Japanese screen paintings showing the arrival of Portuguese mariners in the 16th century; and Nuno Gonçalves’ Panels of St. Vincent, depicting Lisbon society at the time of the Discoveries. The gardens at the back offer peaceful views over the river. See p. 111.
Museu Colecção Berardo (Lisbon): In the depths of the bunker-like Centro Cultural de Belém is a groundbreaking collection of modern and contemporary art. It was put together by Joe Berardo, an emigrant from Madeira who made a fortune in South Africa. The museum covers the greats of 20th-century art including Jackson Pollack, Roy Liechtenstein, and Giorgio de Chirico, along with cutting-edge artists of today. See p. 110.
Portugal’s best Churches & Abbeys
Mosteiro dos Jerónimos (Lisbon): Begun in 1502 in the riverside Belém district, this great monastery is the best example of the Manueline style developed in Portugal to combine late-Gothic and Renaissance architecture with motifs inspired by the great maritime voyages of discovery. Built from white limestone, the soaring nave of the main church building looks almost organic, like a coral-and-algae-crusted sea cave. Inside are the tombs of explorer Vasco da Gama and poets Luís de Camões and Fernando Pessoa. The cloister, decorated by fine Manueline stonework, is a delight. See p. 108.
Santa Maria de Alcobaça (Alcobaça): Don’t be fooled by the ornate baroque facade added in the 18th century. This church was founded in 1153 by Portugal’s founding father, King Afonso Henriques. Inside, the slender, soaring nave is done in unadorned early-Gothic style, then newly imported from France by Cistercian monks. The church is the resting place of several medieval royals, among them King Pedro II and his murdered mistress Inês de Castro, whose tragic story has long inspired poets and musicians. Their extravagant tombs are treasures of Gothic stonework. See p. 196.
Igreja de São Francisco (Porto): Porto’s “Golden Church” doesn’t look like much from its plain Gothic exterior. But inside it is a gilded grotto, shimmering from floor to ceiling with wood carvings coated in gold leaf, a technique known as talha dourada developed by Portuguese craftsmen in the 18th century when the precious metal was pouring in from Brazilian mines. The church dates back to 1244. Amid all the gold, the towering “Tree of Jesse” sculpture showing the family tree of Jesus is a standout. See p. 337.
Mosteiro da Batalha (Batalha): In 1385, a Portuguese army defeated a much larger Spanish invasion force in a field south of Leiria, guaranteeing the country’s independence for 200 years. To mark the victory, King João I, who led the troops, erected near the battlefield this masterpiece of the Flamboyant style of Gothic architecture. Using local limestone that glows golden in the setting sun, a succession of architects brought in influences from France, England, and beyond to make a unique construction. Unfortunately, 20th-century planners were less gifted, placing a busy highway close to the main facade. See p. 209.
Convento de Cristo (Tomar): Another World Heritage Site, this convent in the pretty little town of Tomar once served as headquarters for the Knights Templar, who held off a siege by Arab forces in 1190. Around that time, they built a circular church at the center of the convent, taking as their model the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem. Inside, it is richly decorated with Gothic sculptures and paintings. Successive Portuguese monarchs kept adding to the grandeur of the convent, particularly during the Discoveries period, adorning it with some of the best examples of Manueline stonework. See p. 265.
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Portugal in Context
“Where the land ends and the sea begins” was how the great poet Luís Vaz de Camões defined his homeland in the 16th century. Portugal has
