Palácio Nacional da Ajuda

Sobre o Palácio Nacional da Ajuda

Mission

The National Palace of Ajuda's mission is to study, to conserve and restore, to enhance and divulge the collections of the Portuguese Royal Household that constitute its core, as well as to safeguard the genuineness of its interiors as a historic residence.
 
To that effect it presents a program of pedagogical and interpretative actions directed to the public from a lifelong learning perspective, focusing on the different art collections, on the building, and its historical context, as well as a space for activities of recognized cultural interest and enhancement and safeguard of human rights.
 
The palace-museum, in its capacity as a former royal residence, aims at being a European reference as to the works developed around the study and divulge of its collections.

 José Alberto Ribeiro
 Director
 Palácio Nacional da Ajuda - Museu do Tesouro Real | Biblioteca da Ajuda 

About the Palace

Palácio Nacional da Ajuda/ Museu do Tesouro Real

The project to build the Ajuda Palace dates to 1802 under the regency of Prince João (the future King João VI). It was designed by the architects Francisco Xavier Fabri and José da Costa e Silva and later also had the collaboration of António Francisco Rosa. It is a neoclassical building.

Despite the size of the Palace originally designed, which would have made it one of the largest European royal palaces, it was eventually substantially reduced to the form we know today.

Various factors repeatedly delayed the work, including the departure of the royal family for Brazil during the French invasions in 1807 and the chronic lack of financial resources.

Despite this, the best artists of their time worked on it: Domingos Sequeira, Arcângelo Foschini, Cirilo Volkmar Machado, Joaquim Machado de Castro and João José de Aguiar, who were responsible for the pictorial and sculptural decorations.

When the court returned from Brazil, in 1821, the palace was still unfinished, but protocol ceremonies were already taking place here.

It began to be inhabited in 1826, first by the Princess Regent D. Isabel Maria of Bragança (1801-1876) and two of her sisters, as well as D. Maria Francisca Benedita de Bragança (sister of Queen Maria I) who died here, in 1829.

Two years later, King Miguel I took up residence in the Palace and was responsible for continuing the works.

It wasn't until 1844 that the last building work was carried out, although two of the reigning monarchs (Queen Maria II and King Pedro V) only used the Ajuda Palace for official ceremonies, preferring to live at the Necessidades Palace (today the Ministry of Foreign Affairs).

With the accession to the throne of King Luís I (1838-1889), the Ajuda Palace became the main residence of the royal family and the court. In 1861, its structure was remodelled (as it had been uninhabited for many years) to accommodate the new monarch. After the king's marriage to the Italian princess Maria Pia de Saboia (1847-1911) in 1862, the new queen took charge of its exquisite decoration and the acquisition of many of the works of art that, together with those acquired by her husband, we can appreciate today.

Piso Térreo

No início do reinado de D. Luís uma nova disposição e decoração das salas do Palácio, entregues ao arquiteto Joaquim Possidónio Narciso da Silva, acompanhou os então recentes padrões de conforto, privacidade e higiene, característicos da mentalidade burguesa do século XIX. O piso térreo inicia-se com uma sequência de quatro salas nas quais, pelas funções oficiais a que se destinavam, foi mantido um certo aparato, contribuindo para esse efeito as tapeçarias e as pinturas alegóricas dos tetos, remanescentes da decoração do início do século XIX. A partir da Sala de Música e ao longo da fachada poente, o piso térreo destinava-se aos aposentos privados.

Andar Nobre

O Andar nobre do palácio era essencialmente dedicado às receções de gala, onde se realizavam os banquetes e os bailes. 
As cinco salas do lado poente, conhecidas como “últimos quartos do rei”, criadas no último ano da vida de D. Luís por razões de saúde do monarca, eram de carater privado. 
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