Palácio de Belém

What is now the official Presidential residence was built close to the Jerónimos Monastery in the 16th century. It has extensive gardens with views onto the Tagus River and borders what is now the Belém Botanical Gardens. In the 18th century Portugal’s King João V bought the palace from the Conde de Aveiras and spent some of his New World fortune making it truly palatial, adding a riding school and upgrading the interiors to house his many extramarital conquests.

When the earthquake of 1755 struck, the monarch and his family survived the disaster, as did the palace, and the king caused some consternation by moving his family into tents constructed in the palace gardens in order to use the palace as a hospital for the wounded and sick. In 1911 it became the official Presidential residence and remains so until the present day (bar a few years during the 1974 Revolution).

Today armed uniformed guards and regular police can be seen patrolling the pink palace when President Cavaco Silva is in residence, and the old equestrian centre is now the Coach Museum. Since 2004 part of the palace has been open to the public and has been converted into a small museum called the Museu da Presidência da República, where memorabilia of the past 17 Presidents are on display.