Portugal Ajuda Palace. Palaces of Lisbon. The museum displays rich collections

• Address: Largo Ajuda 1349-021, Lisboa, Portugal
• Telephone: +351 21 363 7095
• Website: palacioajuda.gov.pt
• Working hours: Thu-Tue from 10:00 to 18:00
• Architectural style: neoclassical architecture

Ajuda is a royal palace built in neoclassical style and located in. It is one of the most interesting cities. In addition, near the Ajuda Palace, the first in Portugal is located, in which a huge variety of exotic plants grow.

Historical reference

The Ajuda Palace, like its botanical garden, owes its appearance to the terrible earthquake of 1755, which shook Lisbon and claimed more than 50 thousand lives.

The king refused to rebuild his palace in its original location, so the Ajuda area was chosen. Initially, a wooden house was built here, which residents quickly began to call the “royal shack” or “wooden palace”. Construction of the palace itself began at the end of 1794, after a fire destroyed the wooden structure.

Initially, the work was led by Manuela Sitano de Souza: he planned to erect a building in the late Baroque style with some Rococo elements. However, in the end, other architects began to complete the project - Francisco Xavier Fabri and José da Costa, who turned the palace into a beautiful example of neoclassical architecture.

In 1807, construction had not yet been completed when the palace was captured by Napoleon's troops, which is why the royal family was forced to flee to Brazil. It was only in 1826 that it was completed, and the National Palace of Ajuda in Lisbon again became the residence of the royal family. It has been operating as a museum since 1968.

What interesting things can you see in the Ajuda Palace?

At the moment, the attraction is open to tourists and operates mainly as a tourist attraction. However, the government still sometimes uses it as a venue for special events.

The museum's collection includes a very large number of works of art. These include examples of painting (from the 15th to the 20th centuries), luxurious furniture in the style of Louis XV, and many different decorative elements - statues, tapestries, dishes, etc. Such rich decoration is due to the fact that at one time, thanks to the conquests and discovery of Brazil Diamonds Portugal was an incredibly rich country.

When visiting the Ajuda Palace, you should definitely look into the National Botanical Garden located next to it, which amazes with its collection of ornamental plants.

How to get to the Ajuda Palace in Lisbon?

The most convenient way to get there is by bus on route No. 760, or by tram No. 18. Stop – Palácio Da Ajuda.

I'll introduce you to Palá cio National da Ajuda(Palacio Nacional da Ajuda), located in the Ajuda district. The districts of Ajuda and Belém are neighbors, so it makes sense to combine their attractions together when exploring.

To be honest, I don’t even know what else to write in the introduction to this museum. Big, beautiful, impressive. In general, come and see everything for yourself.

Sights of Lisbon:
Palá cio National da Ajuda– State Palace in Ajuda

Palá cio National da Ajuda– was the official royal residence from the reign of King D. Luís I (Don Luis 1) (1861-1889) until 1910, when the palace was closed after Portugal was declared a republic. The palace was built in the neoclassical style in the first half of the 19th century.

Story Palá cio National da Ajuda

The decision to build the palace was made by King D. José I (Don Jose 1) after the Lisbon earthquake in 1755. On the very day of the earthquake, the king with his family and retinue left after an early mass and at the time of the disaster was in the city of Belem (now a district of Lisbon), because his daughters wanted to spend the holidays outside the city ( the earthquake occurred on November 1, 1755 on All Saints' Day).

Even though the royal family was not affected by the earthquake, the king was so frightened that he refused to return to the shelter of knowledge made of "stone and limestone." Thus, he ordered the construction of a palace... made of wood to replace the destroyed palace in the center of Lisbon. People called it the “Wooden Palace” or “Royal Barracks”. It was the abode of the royal family for almost 30 years, until in 1794 it burned to the ground along with its rich decoration.

Only later, at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries, the construction of a new royal palace began, this time from “stone and limestone.” At first it was designed in the Baroque style, but then it was remodeled in the neoclassical style by two Portuguese architects Francisco Xavier Fabri and José da Costa e Silva, who were educated in Italy. At different times, the best artists and sculptors of the kingdom worked on the decoration of the palace.

The completion of the Royal Palace in Ajuda dragged on for years. When monarchs changed, this building either became the home of the king and then work was resumed with new energy, or the monarch left the palace and then everything was suspended. In those days, the royal family and court moved between three royal residences: Palá cio da Ajuda(Palacio da Ajuda) , Palá cio da Belé m(Palacio de Belem, near M. Jerónimos where the presidential palace is now) and Palá cio dasNecessidades(Palacio dazh Necessidades - the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is now located there).

Our days

Palácio Nacional da Ajuda was declared a national monument in 1910. The museum was opened in 1968, mainly to show how the royal court lived in that era. Here you will find interiors and rich collections of decorative art from the 18th and 19th centuries: fabrics, furniture, jewelry, ceramics, as well as paintings, sculpture and photography.

This palace is now not only a former royal residence and a museum of fine arts, but also the headquarters of Portuguese organizations related to culture and art and the venue for official state receptions of particular importance.

What to see:

The museum is divided into two floors:

Piso Terreo— The ground floor, where the halls intended for both official and private events, as well as the living rooms of the royal family, are located.

Andar Nobre- Noble floor. This floor has always been intended for celebrations and receptions. Here are the Throne Room, Diplomatic Hall, King's Study, Ballroom, etc., as well as several rooms of the king's private nature.

The museum displays rich collections:

Ceramics– 17,000 items made of ceramics, earthenware and porcelain.

Sculpture– about 400 works dating from the 1st half of the 19th century to the 20s of the 20th century.

Photo– about 7000 photographs from more than 300 photographers. Allows you to trace the history of photography in Portugal.

Jewelry– items dating from the end of the 17th century. - late 19th century are divided into two parts: the first - crown jewels for official receptions, weapons and costume elements; the second is royal jewels for everyday wear.

Metals– artistic products made from metal alloys for various purposes: both purely decorative and for real use. Mostly 19th century.

Furniture– mostly furniture from the mid-19th century.

Paintings– more than 450 oil paintings, to which you can add about 800 copies, including watercolors, pastels, drawings and sketches.

Silver plate– dates from the 16th century to the beginning of the 20th.

Fabrics– a wide variety of fabric products of different types, origins and ages.

Costume- mostly casual royal robes, as well as two royal robes with the symbols of the Portuguese royal house. Military costumes worn by members of the royal family are widely represented.

Glass– about 12,500 items from the collection of the old royal house.

Address, contacts, how to get there, ticket prices, etc.

Address:	Largo da Ajuda, 1349-021 Lisboa
Telephone:	+351 213 637 095 / 213 620 264
Fax machine:	+351 213 648 223
Email:	[email protected]
Website Information in English and French:	http://www.pnajuda.imc-ip.pt/ http://www.pnajuda.imc-ip.pt/pt-PT/otherlanguages/ContentDetail.aspx
Opening hours:	10.00 - 18.00 (last entry 17.00) Average visit duration - 1 hour. Closed: By Wednesdays, January 1, Easter Sunday, May 1 and December 25. Every year in February it is closed for general restoration work. Closing/opening dates are announced on the "News" page of the museum's website. These operating hours are subject to change and will be posted in the appropriate locations.
How to get there:	Buses: 18, 729, 732, 742, 60 Suburban train: Cascais line, Belém station Ferry: Belem pier
Ticket price:	regular adult 5 euros
Discounts:	50% are elderly over 65 years of age and people with disabilities 50% - families with four children or more 60% - upon presentation of the “Youth Card”
	For free: — for everyone on Sundays and holidays until 14:00 For excursions with a third-party guide, you must present a pre-obtained permit - children under 14 years of age; — holders of the Lisboa Card tourist card; - members of the associations APOM/ICOM, Academia Nacional de Belas-Artes, Academia Portuguesa da História and Academia Internacional da Cultura Portuguesa -researchers, journalists and other tourism professionals – when the visit is related to the performance of professional duties. Confirmation required; - teachers and students of any level for the purpose of a study visit, which must be booked in advance and must have supporting documents; — philanthropists — members of the associations “Friends of Museums” and “Friends of the Castles”; - employees of the Ministry of Culture with supporting documents.
Combined tickets allowing entry to several museums:	Circuit Ticket Palacio Nacional da Ajuda and Museu Nacional dos Coches - 7.5 euros

The palace is wheelchair accessible. Incl. There is a removable ramp, access to the top floor by elevator, and equipped toilets.

Last minute tours Worldwide

The Ajuda National Palace is a very beautiful neoclassical building built in the 19th century in Lisbon. At first it was the residence of the kings, and in 1938 it was converted into the Museum of Decorative Arts. The light facade of the three-story building immediately attracts attention with a magnificent portico with columns, which is echoed by elegant pilasters running along the entire first and second floors. At the entrance, 23 sculptures of virtues are installed in niches of a three-arched bay, and inside is an impressive collection of furniture, tapestries and other masterpieces of decorative art.

What to see

On the ground floor there are rooms for government and artistic events, including presidential ceremonies.

Of particular interest in the museum are the Diplomatic Hall, in which you can see paintings on the ceiling, and on the walls - tapestries with the coats of arms of the kings of Portugal, the Great Auditorium with luxurious furniture and a white marble staircase decorated with fine carvings.

In the South Tower of the palace there is a spectacular Throne Hall: in addition to the throne itself, silk-draped walls and exquisite valuable parquet flooring attract attention.

There is something special in all the rooms of the Ajuda Palace: in the Great Dining Room there is a stunning painted lampshade, in the Hall of Decrees there is gilded furniture and chandeliers, in the living quarters of the kings there is every household detail: four-poster beds, chests, toilet rooms. You should definitely check out the Blue and Pink Rooms and the Winter Garden.

Practical information

Address: Lisbon, Largo Ajuda, 1349-021.

The Ajuda Palace is located in the Belem region, near the Belem Tower. From the central square of Praça do Comércio you can get to it by tram number 18. Or you can walk from the Belem district, but you need to keep in mind that the palace is located on a mountain, so those who decide to take such a walk will have a long climb.

Opening hours: from 10:00 to 18:00, closed on Wednesday. Entrance - 5 EUR. Prices on the page are as of November 2018.

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Other attractions nearby

• Where to stay: With an eye on the “excursion” - of course, in numerous hotels and boarding houses, guest houses and hostels in the capital of Portugal, the many-sided Lisbon - here you can find an option for every taste and budget. Sun worshipers are invited to the resorts of the Lisbon Riviera - they are located just 15-30 minutes drive from the capital, so they are not far from historical monuments and nightclubs. Holidays in Sintra are relaxed and leisurely, surrounded by excellent beaches and ancient attractions. It’s easier for surfers to stop right away in Nazaré.
• What to see: In Lisbon - the historical center and the Castle of St. George, the oldest district of Alfama, the facades of houses in which are decorated with azulejos tiles, the Cathedral, the Carmo Monastery, the port, the statue of Christ (a copy of the Brazilian one) and majestic palaces. From the Lisbon Riviera it is worth going on an excursion to

Ajuda Palace. Lisbon. Portugal in December. Part 1. General history and partly the first floor. September 3rd, 2013

The Ajuda Palace is not very popular among tourists, I don’t know why. Its history is interesting, and, besides, although it doesn’t look like much from the outside, there is a lot of interesting things inside!


The old building of the Ajuda Palace was built after the Lisbon earthquake in 1761. Although King Jose I and his family were in the Belem Palace during the disaster and were not injured, the incident so worried the ruler that he refused to live in buildings made of stone. By order of Jose, a new wooden palace was built in the elevated area of ​​Ajuda, which was almost not exposed to seismic activity. Its interior was decorated with the best furniture and valuable fabrics, inlays and paintings. In 1794, a fire that broke out due to a candle destroyed almost the entire palace. Only some elements of the decoration have survived, stored today in the museum of the Ajuda Palace, the tower, and also, by a curious coincidence, part of the stonework that supported the second floor of the palace.


On the site of the burnt residence, Prince Juan ordered the construction of a new palace. The Baroque project of the architect Manuel Caetano di Souza at the dawn of its implementation was corrected by the Italian Francesco Fabri and the Portuguese Jose da Costa e Silva, who returned to Lisbon after studying in Bologna. The architects convinced the prince that the new residence should be designed in the spirit of a new style - neoclassicism.


The modification of the baroque foundation of the building, begun in 1802, was frozen only five years later: to escape Napoleon's army, the royal family and court moved to Brazil. During the first half of the 19th century, construction of the Ajuda Palace proceeded very slowly. At that time, there were as many as three royal residences and work in Ajuda began only when the royal family chose it as their residence. The palace became a permanent residence only in 1861, after the wedding of King Luis and Italian Princess Maria Pia of Savoy.

The future queen (who was 15 years old at that time) was actively involved in arranging the Ajuda Palace. By her order, the wooden structures were updated, the furnishings were enriched: carpets, furniture and chandeliers were added. Many large halls were divided into several. For example, the ancient lobby was turned into three rooms: the Winter Garden, the Oak and Saxon halls. There were bathrooms with running water and bathtubs, a dining room for everyday meals and rooms for leisure, such as the Blue Room, the Chinese Room, the Music Room, an art workshop and even a billiard room.
Historically, the palace is divided into two zones - a common one on the first floor and a private one on the second... True, over time everything has been mixed up and now on the first floor there are meeting rooms and bedrooms, while on the second floor there are private offices and a throne room .
There are many rooms in the palace, however (18 on the first floor, 12 on the second) and almost all of them are open to visitors. There were also a lot of photos from there, but I made an effort and divided them into 4 not very large posts). So, on the first floor there is a valet room (there is now a cash register))
This is followed by a small hall of Spanish tapestries. It is named so because there are 8 different sized tapestries hanging there and was used as a reception area for "formal guests"


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Then a small Hall of Order or the Hall of Don Sebastian. You can't swing there with my lens


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but the most pleasant thing there is the ceiling, which depicts the hunt of the goddess Diana, and behind it is another hall with painted ceilings, the name of which I could not translate literary) Sala dos Contadores (Accountants Hall)

Well, I’ll probably finish showing you the winter garden/marble room. The room is decorated with marble and agate, sent as a gift to the royal couple by the Egyptian colonies

To be continued...

Construction began in the late Baroque style shortly after the earthquake of 1755, which destroyed the 15th-16th century royal palace that stood on this site. The deplorable state of the treasury forced the king to reconsider the original project towards reducing its size. By this time the palace was completed in the style of classicism. It became the permanent residence of the royal family in the city, and at that time the interiors were updated in the spirit of eclecticism. Currently open to tourists.

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An excerpt characterizing the Ajuda Palace

“Moscow, November 17th.
I just arrived from my benefactor, and I hasten to write down everything that I experienced. Joseph Alekseevich lives poorly and has been suffering from a painful bladder disease for three years. No one ever heard a groan or a word of murmur from him. From morning until late at night, with the exception of the hours during which he eats the simplest food, he works on science. He received me graciously and seated me on the bed on which he was lying; I made him a sign of the knights of the East and Jerusalem, he answered me in the same way, and with a gentle smile asked me about what I had learned and acquired in the Prussian and Scottish lodges. I told him everything as best I could, conveying the reasons that I proposed in our St. Petersburg box and informed him about the bad reception given to me and about the break that had occurred between me and the brothers. Joseph Alekseevich, having paused and thought for a while, expressed his view of all this to me, which instantly illuminated for me everything that had happened and the entire future path ahead of me. He surprised me by asking if I remembered what the threefold purpose of the order was: 1) to preserve and learn the sacrament; 2) in purifying and correcting oneself in order to perceive it and 3) in correcting the human race through the desire for such purification. What is the most important and first goal of these three? Of course, your own correction and cleansing. This is the only goal we can always strive for, regardless of all circumstances. But at the same time, this goal requires the most work from us, and therefore, misled by pride, we, missing this goal, either take on the sacrament, which we are unworthy to receive due to our uncleanness, or we take on the correction of the human race, when we ourselves are an example of abomination and depravity. Illuminism is not a pure doctrine precisely because it is carried away by social activities and is filled with pride. On this basis, Joseph Alekseevich condemned my speech and all my activities. I agreed with him in the depths of my soul. On the occasion of our conversation about my family affairs, he told me: “The main duty of a true Mason, as I told you, is to improve himself.” But often we think that by removing all the difficulties of our life from ourselves, we will more quickly achieve this goal; on the contrary, my lord, he told me, only in the midst of secular unrest can we achieve three main goals: 1) self-knowledge, for a person can know himself only through comparison, 2) improvement, which is achieved only through struggle, and 3) to achieve the main virtue - love of death. Only the vicissitudes of life can show us its futility and can contribute to our innate love of death or rebirth to a new life. These words are all the more remarkable because Joseph Alekseevich, despite his severe physical suffering, is never burdened by life, but loves death, for which he, despite all the purity and height of his inner man, does not yet feel sufficiently prepared. Then the benefactor explained to me the full meaning of the great square of the universe and pointed out that the triple and seventh numbers are the basis of everything. He advised me not to distance myself from communication with the St. Petersburg brothers and, occupying only 2nd degree positions in the lodge, try, distracting the brothers from the hobbies of pride, to turn them to the true path of self-knowledge and improvement. In addition, for himself, he personally advised me, first of all, to take care of myself, and for this purpose he gave me a notebook, the same one in which I write and will henceforth write down all my actions.”