User:Cristiano Tomás/Sandbox 2
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The National Palace of Queluz (Portuguese: Palácio Nacional de Queluz) is a Portuguese 18th-century palace located in the civil parish of Queluz, in the modern-day municipality of Sintra, in the district of Lisbon. One of the last great Rococo buildings to be designed in Europe,[1] the palace was conceived as a summer retreat for Infante Peter of Braganza, later to become husband and then king consort to his niece, Queen Maria I. It served as a discreet place of incarceration for Queen Maria as her descent into madness continued, in the years following Peter's death in 1786. Following the destruction by fire of the Palace of Ajuda in 1794, Queluz became the official residence of the Portuguese prince regent, John VI and his family, and remained so, until the Royal Family fled to Brazil in 1807, following the French invasion of Portugal.[2]
Queluz National Palace | |
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Palácio Nacional de Queluz | |
General information | |
Location | Queluz, Portugal |
Construction started | 1747 |
Owner | Portuguese Republic |
Website | |
Official site of the Palace of Queluz |
Work on the palace began in 1747 under the architect Mateus Vicente de Oliveira. Despite being far smaller, the palace is often referred to as the Portuguese Versailles.[3] From 1826, the palace slowly fell from favour with the Portuguese monarchs, and in 1908, it became the property of the state. Following a serious fire in 1934, which gutted the interior, the palace was extensively restored, and was, later, opened to the public as a major tourist attraction.
One wing of the palace, the Pavilion of Dona Maria, built between 1785 and 1792 by the architect Manuel Caetano de Sousa, is now a guest house allocated to foreign heads of state visiting Portugal.