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Palacio Nacional de Queluz Review

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Palácio Nacional de Queluz

  • Address: Rte. IC19, Queluz
  • Phone: 21/435-0039

Fodor's Review:

The Palácio Nacional de Queluz (Queluz National Palace) was inspired, in part, by the palace at Versailles. Intended as a royal summer residence, the salmon-pink rococo edifice was ordered by Dom Pedro III in 1747, and work began under the supervision of architect Mateus Vicente de Oliveira. Within five years it was fit to receive its first royal inhabitants, but it took another 40 years and the artistic endeavors of Frenchman Jean-Baptiste Robillon for Queluz to acquire its famous romantic appearance. The building is fronted by a huge cobbled square and surrounded by Robillon's formal landscaping and waterways. The trees (brought from Amsterdam), statues (imported from London), ponds, canal, fountains, hedges—and the palace—all fit a carefully executed baroque plan that implies harmony and wholeness. After a 1934 fire, the palace was restored. It's used today for banquets, music festivals, and official meetings attended by world leaders, and as accommodations for visiting heads of state.

You can tour the apartments and elegant staterooms, including the frescoed Music Salon, the Hall of Ambassadors, and the mirrored Throne Room with its crystal chandeliers and gilt trim. Room furnishings and details—often of fine woods and precious metals from around the globe—are truly fit for a king. Walks in the formal gardens take you through orange groves and down avenues of oaks to azulejo-lined fountains and canals.

  • Cost: EUR 4, free Sun. 10-2
  • Open: Wed.-Mon. 10-5 (last admission 4:30)
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