The Royal Palace occupies the entire noble floor of the Mafra building and the two turrets, the northern one for the King’s Palace and the southern one for the Queen, connected by a long 232 m gallery – the largest palace corridor in Europe – used for the “tour” of the court, so to the taste of the XVIII century. Here the royal audiences were expected, the jewels and dresses displayed, or the political and loving intrigues …
The King’s and Queen’s Palace functioned separately, each with their own kitchens in the basement, the pantries and the wedges in the room. ground floor, the rooms of the Camaristas or the Ladies on the first floor, the royal quarters on the noble floor and the servants in the mezzanines (attics).
For the princes a palace was destined for the Northeast end of the building and for the princesses another for the Southeast. Both also worked separately.
Primitively decorated with Flemish tapestries, Oriental rugs and furniture commissioned here, the Palace will undergo a profound modification in the time of D. João VI who commissioned a mural decoration campaign in several rooms, under the responsibility of Cyrillo Volkmar Machado. Many of these tapestries, paintings and furniture will be taken by the Royal Family to Brazil in 1807, from which they did not return.
This arrangement of spaces continued until the death of D. Fernando de Saxe-Coburg, husband of Queen D. Maria II, when the entire Royal Family came to inhabit only the tower and the south wing, leaving the northern tower reserved for guests visiting Mafra.
The south wing has undergone some punctual and decorative works, namely during the marriage of D. Pedro V and D. Estefânia of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, during the reign of D. Luís and D. Maria Pia de Sabóia and D. Carlos and D. Amelia of Orleans.
Guard Room
This was the entrance to the Palace and the Royal Guard – which gives the name of this room – when the Royal Family was in Mafra.
The ceiling painting by Cirilo Volkmar Machado represents “The Phaeton of the Cliff”, a mythological character who, having obtained from his father Helios the car with which he lit the world, losing the dominance of the horses, endangered the Earth and the Sky. Zeus, guardian of the order of the universe, struck him with his lightning and threw him into the river Eridano.
Destination Room
On the ceiling, by Cirilo Volkmar Machado, is represented the “Temple of Destiny”, highlighting the figure of Providence that gives D. Afonso Henriques the Book of Destiny of the Fatherland. Around it are represented, besides Hugo Capeto king of France and Count D. Henrique de Burgundy, father of D. Afonso Henriques, all Portuguese monarchs until D. João IV.
North Tower
Private quarters of the King, used until the death of D. Fernando de Saxe-Cobourgo (1816/1885), husband of Queen D. Maria II, later reserved to important guests visiting Mafra.
Each of the Paço Real’s north and south turrets functioned as an independent apartment with its basement kitchens, ground-floor pantries and shacks, first-floor Camaristas’ rooms, the King’s quarters on this floor, and the servants on the ground floor mezzanines (attics).
Throne room
The painting of the ceiling represents an allegory to “Lusitania” and is part of the decorative campaign that Cirilo Volkmar Machado executed in the Palace from 1796 on the order of Prince Regent, future King D. João VI.
Walls decorated with frescoes depicting the eight Royal Virtues, by Domingos Sequeira (1768-1837).
Diana’s Room
The name is due to the painting of the ceiling representing Diana, the hunting goddess, accompanied by nymphs and satyrs. Created by Cirilo Volkmar Machado (1748-1823), it is part of the decorative campaign carried out from 1796 by order of the then Prince Regent, future king D. João VI. The painter was inspired by a painting by Domenichino entitled “Diana’s Hunt” in the Borghese Gallery in Rome.
The painting on the north wall, door ajar in trompe-l’-oeil, represents the same goddess, also known as Selene, the moon goddess, and Endymion, the shepherd she fell in love with.
History
By royal will, the initial draft of a convent for 13 friars was successively extended to 40, 80 and finally 300 friars, a Basilica and a Royal Palace. However, at the time of the consecration of the Basilica, October 22, 1730, only the foundations of what would become the Palace were opened, which only began to be built in the following years, being concluded near 1735.
The life of Court at Mafra Palace at the time of King John V was relatively scarce, as the King fell seriously ill in 1742 and died in 1750.
His son D. José I kept the habit of coming to Mafra, almost always to hunt in Tapada. But since the 1755 earthquake had not enjoyed dwelling in stone buildings, the entire Royal Family had settled in a tent built next to the Palace.
Already in the reign of D. Maria I, the comings of the court to Mafra were related to the celebration of religious festivals or the taste that the Queen had for horse riding in Tapada, a habit that she kept until she fell ill in 1792.
Primitively decorated with Flemish tapestries, Oriental rugs, the Palace will undergo a profound modification at the will of D. João VI, still Prince Regent, who commissioned Cyrillo Volkmar Machado for a campaign of mural decoration in several rooms.
Here the whole Court was installed in the year 1806/1807, in the troubled time before the French Invasions. The need to make the large spaces of the Palace more livable also led to the division of some of the large spaces into smaller rooms, divided by “richly painted” wooden partitions in Brazil.
The departure of the Royal Family to Brazil on 27 November 1807, days before the arrival of the French troops in Lisbon, resulted in the impoverishment of much of the Palace’s filling, transported to the colony for the service of the Royal House. having been left when the Court returned to Portugal in June 1821.
In December 1807, French troops were housed in the Palace, and a few months later were replaced by a small fraction of the English army that remained here until March 1828.
After the troubled period of the Liberal Struggles, during the reign of D. Maria II, the Court resumed its habit of returning to Mafra. Her husband, D. Fernando, a true pioneer of the defense of national heritage, carried out several restoration works at the Royal Building.
Also D. Pedro V came with his wife, Queen D. Estefânia of Hoenzollern-Sigmaringen, to spend some seasons in Mafra. This king founded in this Palace a Royal School with his name, for public instruction, supported by his pocket.
D. Luís I, king since 1861, after the death of his brother, maintained the royal protection to the School created by his brother, also coming frequently to attend the examinations, often accompanied by the queen D. Maria Pia of Savoy. For a stay in Mafra of her brother, King Humberto of Italy, the queen had the queen install, between the ground floor and the noble floor, an elevator maneuvered by four men, which the palace people called shuttle or crab. This will have been one of the first elevators in our country.
Also D. Carlos and D. Amélia, great lovers of hunting, here made frequent stays visiting the Tapada after fallow deer and wild boar or painting, hobby that both were dedicated to.
The Palace of Mafra is also associated with the end of the monarchy in Portugal, as it welcomed King Manuel II on the last night he spent in the kingdom before his departure into exile.
Mafra National Palace
The Mafra National Palace is located in the municipality of Mafra , in the district of Lisbon in Portugal , about 25 kilometers from Lisbon. It is made up of a monumental palace and monastery in baroque joanine style , on the German side. The work of its construction began in 1717 at the initiative of King D. João V , by virtue of a promise he had made in the name of the offspring he would obtain from Queen D. Maria Ana of Austria.
Built in the 18th century by King João V in fulfillment of a vow to obtain succession from his marriage to D. Maria Ana of Austria or the cure of a disease he suffered, the National Palace of Mafra is the most important monument of the baroque in Portugal.
Constructed in lioz stone of the region, the building occupies an area of nearly four hectares (37,790 m2), comprising 1200 divisions, more than 4700 doors and windows, 156 staircases and 29 courtyards and lobbies. Such magnificence was only possible because of the gold of Brazil, which allowed the Monarch to put into practice a policy of patronage and reinforcement of royal authority.
It is classified as a National Monument and declared a 2019 World Heritage Site by UNESCO.