April 6, 2019:
Background – The seaside beach resort town of Cascais (kahsh-KAYSH), about 17 miles due west of Lisbon, is the premier holiday destination of the Portuguese Riviera, as well as being a fascinating town to visit as a day trip from Lisbon. Many members of the royalty have lived in Cascais, including King Edward VIII of the United Kingdom, when he was the Duke of Windsor, King Juan Carlos I of Spain, and King Umberto II of Italy.
Aerial photo of Cascais – Photo: telegraph.co.uk
Getting There – We got up early to use the Metro/Uber to get to the Cais do Sodré train station in Lisbon. From there, we took a train to Cascais. We dropped off our bags at our accomodation in Cascais (Casa de Pergola) and headed to the Main Square of Cascais…
Our accommodation in Cascais – Casa de Pergola
Map of waterfront – Cascais
Breakfast – Our first priority was to get breakfast – we stopped in a Paul Boulangerie on the Main Square of Cascais and enjoyed fantastic croissants.
Breakfast at Paul Boulangerie in the main square
Town Hall of Cascais/Museu da Vila (Museum of the Village) – After breakfast, we took a look around the Main Square. The pretty square with waves of cobblestones, includes the Town Hall of Cascais, with a new Museu da Vila (Museum of the Village), which makes it possible to scroll through the history of the town and county, from the Neolithic period to the early Twentieth Century.
Town Hall of Cascais and the new Museum of the Village
White House with Clock and Bell Tower – Also on the square is a White House with Clock and Bell Tower, built in 1821 on the ruins of another building destroyed by the earthquake of 1755. On the main façade, in addition to two bell towers, are the coat-of-arms of Portugal and a clock offered by Sérgio Barros in 1876, replacing the former inoperable clock.
White House with Clock and Bell Tower
Cascais TI (Tourist Information Center) – The main square is also home to the Cascais TI (Tourist Information Center or Cascais Visitor Center).
Cascais Tourist Information Center – Google Street Map
Dom Pedro I Statue – On the square is located a statue of Dom Pedro I (see below for his history).
Statue of Dom Pedro I
History of Pedro I of Portugal
Called the Just or the Cruel, Dom Pedro I was King of Portugal and of the Algarves from 1357 until his death – He was the third but only surviving son of Afonso IV of Portugal and his wife, Infanta Beatriz of Castile.
Pedro I, King of Portugal and the Algarves
Afonso married his son and heir, Pedro, to Constanza, thereby allying himself with Juan Manuel, Prince of Villena.
When Constanza arrived in Portugal in 1340, Inês de Castro, the beautiful and aristocratic daughter of a prominent Galician family (with links albeit through illegitimacy, to the Portuguese and Castilian royal families), accompanied her as her lady-in-waiting.
Pedro soon fell in love with Inês, and the two conducted a long love affair that lasted until Inês’s murder in 1355 – Constanza died in 1345, weeks after giving birth to Fernando, who eventually became the first of Pedro’s sons to succeed him as king of Portugal.
Pedro and Inês by Ernesto Condeixa
The scandal of Pedro’s affair with Inês, and its political ramifications, caused Afonso to banish Inês from court after Constanza died – Pedro refused to marry any of the princesses his father suggested as a second wife; and the king refused to allow his son to marry Inês as Pedro wanted.
The two aristocratic lovers began living together in secret – According to the chronicle of Fernão Lopes, during this period, Pedro began giving Inês’s brothers, exiles from the Castilian court, important positions in Portugal and they became the heir-apparent’s closest advisors.
This alarmed Afonso – He worried that upon his death, civil war could tear the country apart, or the Portuguese throne would fall into Castilian hands, either as Juan Manuel fought to avenge his daughter’s honor, or as the de Castro brothers supported their sister Inês.
Pedro claimed that he had married Inês anyways against his father’s orders. In any event, in 1355, Afonso sent three men to find Inês at the Monastery of Santa Clara-a-Velha in Coimbra, where she was detained, and they decapitated her in front of one of her young children.
Enraged, Pedro revolted against his father – Afonso defeated his son within a year, but died shortly thereafter, and Pedro succeeded to the throne in 1357.
The love affair and father-son conflict inspired more than twenty operas and many writers, including: the Portuguese national epic Os Lusíadas by Luís de Camões, the Spanish “Nise lastimosa” and “Nise laureada” (1577) by Jerónimo Bermúdez and ‘Reinar despues de morir’ by Luís Vélez de Guevara, as well as “Inez de Castro” by Mary Russell Mitford and Henry de Montherlant’s French drama La Reine morte.
But the story is not over… Pedro allegedly had Inês de Castro’s body exhumed and crowned Queen of Portugal, forcing the clergy and nobility to kiss the bones of her dead hands.
Forced homage to the dead Inês de Castro
From the main square, we walked across the street to see…
Praia da Ribeira (Ribeira Beach) – This is a cozy beach for basking and swimming and is very popular with families.
Sand castle on Ribeira Beach
We walked east along the beach promenade until we reached…
Beach promenade – Flickr – Terry Kearney
Casa Maria Amália Vaz de Carvalho – This house was built by the 3rd Duchess of Palmela in 1903, and originally designated “Casa de Dom Pedro” in honor of her husband, the Duke of Palmela (Dom Pedro de Sousa Holstein). It was offered by the Duchess to the writer Maria Amália Vaz de Carvalho as a tribute for her three volume work on the biography of the Duke of Palmela “Vida do Duque de Palmela, D. Pedro”.
Casa Maria Amália Vaz de Carvalho – Photo: TripAdvisor
Next door to the Casa Maria Amália Vaz de Carvalho is the…
Palácio Seixas – This stately palace was built in the early 20th century on the location of the 17th century Santa Catarina Fort.
Palácio Seixas
We passed up the stairs between the Casa Maria Amália Vaz de Carvalho and the Palácio Seixas to see…
Up the stairs between the Casa Maria Amália Vaz de Carvalho and the Palácio Seixas – Google Street View
Fisherman Houses – These are the traditional houses of the fishermen of Cascais.
Traditional fishermen houses
We then turned north on Rua das Flôres to see…
The Fisherman (O Pescacor) – This statue represents a Cascais fisherman, a sculptural piece by João Cutileiro, inaugurated in 1983, and intends to evoke the importance of fishing activity in Cascais that comes from time immemorial.
The Fisherman (O Pescacor) by João Cutileiro
Just past the Fisherman’s statue, we turned left on Largo Henrique Anjos and walked west. We reached another square to see the…
Pelourinho de Cascais (Cascais Pillory) – This tower is topped with the Portuguese coat of arms and a crown. This monument, originally placed as a marker on the Cascais-Estoril road built in 1828-1833 by Brigadier Raymundo José Pinheiro, had to be slightly displaced when the Avenida Marginal was built – After several locations; it finally ended up in this square…
Pelourinho de Cascais – Photo: All About Portugal
We returned to the beach promenade and started walking to the right of Ribeira Beach…
Walking to the right of Ribeira Beach – Google Street View
Here we found another statue, the…
To the Portuguese Discoveries (Aos Descobrimentos Portugueses) – This is a statue of a female figure in bronze, whose very long hair evokes the rigging of boats. The sculpture, designed by João de Sousa Araújo, sits on a stone base and is a tribute to the Portuguese Discoveries.
Aos Descobrimentos Portugueses (To the Portuguese Discoveries)
We continued walking around the harbor of Cascais, noticing the elegant houses on the right…
Casa dos Condes de Monte Real (House of the Counts of Monte Real) – Built in 1920, with a project by Guilherme Gomes, this house shows the permanence of palatial taste, converted into a Casa Portuguesa (Portuguese House).
Casa dos Condes de Monte Real (House of the Counts of Monte Real)
In a hedge-rimmed small square opposite this house on the corner stands the…
Statue in honor of King Carlos I (Estátua em homenagem ao Rei D. Carlos I) – King Carlos I, known as the Diplomat (reigned October 19, 1889 – 1908), was the first Portuguese king to die a violent death since Sebastião of Portugal in 1578.
King Carlos I statue
King Carlos looking towards the harbor – Wikimedia – Michael Coghlan
Assassination of King Carlos I:
On February 1, 1908, the royal family returned from the palace of Vila Viçosa to Lisbon – They travelled by train to Barreiro and, from there, they took a steamer to cross the Tagus River and disembarked at Cais do Sodré in central Lisbon. On their way to the royal palace, the open carriage with Carlos I and his family passed through the Terreiro do Paço fronting on the river.
King Carlos I
While crossing the square, shots were fired from the crowd by two republican activists: Alfredo Luís da Costa and Manuel Buíça. Buíça, a former army sergeant and sharpshooter, fired five shots from a rifle hidden under his long overcoat – The king died immediately, his heir Luís Filipe was mortally wounded and Prince Manuel was hit in the arm – The Queen alone escaped injury. The two assassins were killed on the spot by police and bodyguards; an innocent bystander was also killed in the confusion.
The assassination of King Carlos I
The royal carriage turned into the nearby Navy Arsenal, where, about twenty minutes later, Prince Luís Filipe died.
Plaque – Wikimedia – Lijealso
In this location, on the 1st February of 1908,
His Majesty The King Dom Carlos I
and the Prince Royal Dom Luís Filipe
died for the Fatherland
Several days later, the younger son, Prince Manuel, was proclaimed King of Portugal; he was the last of the Braganza-Saxe-Coburg and Gotha dynasty and the last king of Portugal as well.
We returned across the street to the Casa dos Condes de Monte Real and climbed up Avenida Dom Carlos I for one block. Here we saw three statues on the left:
Three statues along Avenida Dom Carlos I – Google Street View
Statue of Diogo de Menses – The statue to the right is of Diogo de Menses, a Portuguese military officer and colonial administrator – He served as chief captain of the Fortress of Malacca and was the 26th governor of India.
Statue of Diogo de Meneses by Augusto Gil – Wikimedia – Carlos Luis M C da Cruz
He fought alongside Dom António de Portugal, Prior of Crato, against the invasion of the kingdom by Philip II of Spain, becoming a prisoner and later being beheaded (or hanged) by order of the Duke of Alba. In his honor, in April 17, 2010 was inaugurated outside the Citadel of Cascais, this statue, full body, in bronze, by the sculptor Augusto Gil.
Anti-Aircraft Artillery Unit Memorial – The second statue is a monument to the first anti-aircraft artillery unit in Portugal. Its commander was D. Miquel Pereira Coutinho. Homage was provided by the Cascais Advertising Society with support of Cascais Municipal Chamber, Parish Council and Tourism Board on June 13th, 1984.
Anti-Aircraft Artillery Unit Memorial – Photo: vgrigoriev.ru
Estátua Guerras Cascais (Statue Cascais War) – The statue to the left honors the Nineteenth Infantry Regiment of the Peninsular War.
Estátua Guerras Cascais – Photo: Cultura Cascais
Behind and to the left of the Estátua Guerras Cascais statue is the northern entrance to the Citadel of Cascais.
Northern entrance to the Citadel of Cascais – Photo: VortexMag
Cidadela de Cascais (Citadel of Cascais) – The Citadel of Cascais is a set of fortifications built between the 15th and 17th centuries to defend the Cascais coastline and River Tagus estuary and to protect against attacks on the capital of Portugal, Lisbon.
Aerial View – Citadel of Cascais – Photo: 10best.usatoday.com
Sites within the Citadel of Cascais:
1) The Cascais Citadel Palace (Palácio da Cidadela de Cascais) – The Cascais Citadel Palace is the summer residence of the President of the Republic. With the major construction campaign that took place between 2007 and 2011, during the second term of President Aníbal Cavaco Silva, the Palace was able to host initiatives from the Presidency, as well as hosting heads of state.
Since 2011, it has also become a space open to the public, offering a cultural program: guided tours of the palace and adjoining chapel, exhibitions, concerts and other events.
Costs/Hours – Self-guided or Guided (Portuguese) Tours – Open in Summer (April 1 – October 31) Tuesday – Sunday, 10 am – 1 pm; 2 pm – 8 pm; Closed, Monday; Open in Winter (November 1 – March 31) – Wednesday – Sunday, 10 am – 1 pm; 2 pm – 6 pm; Closed Monday, Tuesday (these hours are subject to change – see website: https://www.cascais.pt/equipamento/palacio-da-cidadela-de-cascais and/or check with the Cascais Visitor Center for latest information). A ticket includes a tour (self-guided or guided) of the Palace, Museum, and Chapel of Our Lady of Victory – €4; 65+ €2.50; Temporary Exhibitions €2.50; 65+ €1.50.
Guided tours of the Palace (in Portuguese) are from Wednesday – Sunday (except holidays) at 11:30 am – There is one person on each of the three floors of the Palace also available to answer questions.
Visitors are able to walk through the apparatuses of the Palace, the Chapel of Our Lady of Victory, the old room of King D. Luís I or the Arab room, where with a stunning view of the sea, he died; which also served as a working room for President Craveiro Lopes.
The Palace of the Citadel of Cascais – Wikimedia – GualdimG
2) Pousada Cascais – A Five Star Hotel (Pestana Cidadela Cascais);
Pousada Cascais – Photo: Jacada Travel
3) An Art District and Museum;
Arts District and Museum
4) The Chapel of Our Lady of Victory (Capela de Nossa Senhora da Vitória); and
The Chapel of Our Lady of Victory – Wikimedia – GualdimG
5) The Fortress Tower of Our Lady of Light (Nosso Senhora da Luz Torre da Fortaleza).
Costs-Hours – Open Tuesday – Sunday, 10 am – 5 pm; Closed Monday – Free – The entrance to the Fortress and Tower is on the Promenade or Passesio D. Maria Pia.
Fortress Tower of Our Lady of Light – Wikimedia – swissbert
We briefly walked around the Citadel of Cascais but didn’t enter the Palace, Chapel, or Hotel. We returned down Avenida Dom Carlos I to the statue of Carlos I and then walked south along the waterfront promenade and outside the Citadel walls.
Walking outside the fortress walls
View of the harbor from the promenade by the Citadel
Marina of Cascais (Marina de Cascais) – At the corner of the Citadel, we arrived at the Marina of Cascais, lined with boats.
The Marina of Cascais filled with boats
The Marina of Cascais is the largest marina on the Portuguese Riviera and the third largest marina in the country.
Marina of Cascais – Cascais-Portugal.com
It is much more than just a protected stretch of sea water – it has eating establishments, and bars, and boutique shops, including a bike rental shop handy for a bike tour along the waterfront.
Here, at the corner of the Citadel and the entrance to the Marina, we passed a golden sailboat mounted on a white stand – this sculpture, named “Barco à Vela” (Sailboat) is by Cristina Leiria and commemorates the 2007 centenary of the International Sailing Federation.
“Barco à Vela” (Sailboat) by Cristina Leiria
View from the Western End of the Marina – We followed the promenade along the Marina of Cascais to its western end.
Western end of the Marina of Cascais – Google Maps Satellite
From here we had a view, to the left, of the Farol de Santa Marta (Lighthouse of Saint Martha) and the Casa Santa Maria (House of Saint Mary). The lighthouse has been restored and turned into a museum explaining the mechanisms of lighthouses, the history of those found down the Portuguese coast, and offering a view of Cascais from above. Next door to the lighthouse, the Casa Santa Maria dates from 1902, and was built as the perfect example of a typical Portuguese house.
Farol de Santa Marta (Lighthouse of Saint Martha) and Casa Santa Maria (House of Saint Mary)
Our view to the right was of a site we would see soon, the Museu Condes de Castro Guimarães (Museum Counts de Castro Guimarães).
Museu Condes de Castro Guimarães
Before entering the Museu Condes de Castro Guimarães, we first toured the Capela de Sao Sebastião (Chapel of Saint Sebastian) and the adjoining park, Parque Marechal Carmona.
Capela de Sao Sebastião (Chapel of Saint Sebastian) – This chapel dates from the 17th Century and predates the Museu Condes de Castro Guimarães by almost two hundred years. Inside the walls are lined with traditionally painted tile images of Saint Sebastian’s life and his deeds as a saint. The chapel is maintained by Dominican fathers who hold a religious Sunday service in English once a week.
Capela de Sao Sebastião (Chapel of Saint Sebastian)
Checking out a chicken in front of the chapel
Woman Dancing with Child Statue – In front of the chapel, in the garden there is a statue by Joseph Bernard “Woman Dancing with Child”, c. 1866.
Woman Dancing with Child by Joseph Bernard – c. 1866
“Deus Nobis Haec Otia Fecit” Fountain – There is a fountain nearby the chapel with a panel with azulejos, entitled in Latin: “Deus Nobis Haec Otia Fecit”, meaning “God has given us this tranquility”.
Fountain near the chapel
Parque Marechal Carmona (Park Marechal Carmona) – This shady park was created in the 1940s and is often the site of family picnics. When they’re not running around the lawn, children play by a duck and turtle pond, as parents sit in the sun or in the shade of palms and pine trees in the company of peacocks. The park is dotted with statues and modern art works.
Parque Marechal Carmona (Park Marechal Carmona)
Museu Condes de Castro Guimarães (Museum Counts de Castro Guimarães) – We are now ready to see the museum. This Gothic Revival castle is a former aristocratic residence overlooking the sea and surrounded by a garden. It was built between 1897 and 1900, and was home to Jorge O’Neill, an aristocrat of Irish descent. Later, it was acquired by the Count Castro de Guimarães, and was turned into a museum in 1931, some time after the last residents left.
Museu Condes de Castro Guimarães (Museum Counts de Castro Guimarães)
View of the ocean from the Museum
It displays a collection of decorative art, which includes Indo-Portuguese furniture, paintings, ceramics, and a large library with over 25,000 books. In the basement are a number of archaeological finds.
The interior is accessed through a cloister decorated with Moorish-style tiles, and the most impressive room is the Neo-Gothic Hall, which was the dining room of the first owner and then turned into the library.
Cloister of the Museum
On the upper floor, reached via a spiraling staircase, is a collection of swords, paintings and sculptures from the 19th and 20th centuries.
The Upper Floor
Cost/Hours – The museum is open Tuesday – Friday, 10 am – 5 pm; Saturday, Sunday, 10 am – 1 pm; 2 pm – 5 pm (last entry at 4:30 pm) – Closed, Monday. Visits are by self-guided or hourly guided tours (there is an English tour at 3 pm) – €4 (+65 – €2) – good English explanations.
Visiting the Museum – To the right of the Museum entrance is a tower and wall decorated with colorful azulejos tiles (the wall represents an town assembly) – the panel represents the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception.
Dogma of the Immaculate Conception
Cloister – Upon entering the museum there is first an Arabic-style cloister with a fountain topped by a lion:
Arabic-style cloister with a lion-topped fountain
The Museum has several rooms on two floors.
Museum Staircases – Flickr – Ana
Crossing the cloister, one enters this room, whose ceiling bears the Irish clover, the inheritance of its first inhabitant, Jorge (George) O’Neill…
Yellow Room or Clover Room – Portraits in oil of the Count and Countess by Victor Mateus Corcos (c. 1904), donors of the palace, greet you in the Yellow Room or Clover Room so called by the Irish clover leaves, the symbol of Ireland, the country of origin of Jorge O’Neill’s ancestors, the first owner of the Tower of Saint Sebastian (Torre de São Sebastião).
Yellow Room – Count de Castro Guimarães – Photo: Trip.com
Yellow Room – Countess de Castro Guimarães – Photo: Trip.com
Clover ceiling – Photo: Cascais.pt
Portrait on the wall
On the chimney, is the coat of arms of the Count and Countess de Castro Guimarães.
Coat of arms – Count and Countess de Castro Guimarães – Photos: besisluxe.com
Clover on the windows – Photo: besisluxe.com
Red Room or Music Room – The coat of arms of the Count’s ancestors are painted on the ceiling in the Red Room known as the Music Room
Coat of arms – Count’s ancestors
In this room, in an authentic gallery of portraits, one can observe the works of several national and foreign authors of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and a set of French chairs and canapé of French inspiration.
Nancy and Georgia enjoying the Red room
Also noteworthy is an organ with a pneumatic tubular system, which has a total of 1170 tubes, manufactured in Braga, in 1912, by Augusto Joaquim Claro, ordered to be installed by the Count of Castro Guimarães especially for this space.
Organ with pneumatic tubular system
Here there were pleasant musical events promoted by the Counts, constituting a true “calling card” of the palace.
Neo-Gothic Room – Thus designated as having a vaulted roof with ribs, forming neo-Gothic arches with “Manuelines” elements and medieval imaginary, in this room stand out also the large windows torn to the wide balcony on the outside, decorated by polychrome tile panels.
Neo-Gothic Room
In this room, are two vases of Chinese porcelain with the coat of arms of the family Sobral, from the Eighteenth Century.
The furnishings are various productions of the Seventeenth Century, made of dark woods, especially pau-santo (holy wood), where the brass applications shine golden. The fireplace is covered with a coat of arms and the Virgin with child.
Fireplace with coat of arms, Virgin with child
It was in this space that the first Public Library of Cascais worked for decades.
Library – Under a gothic-style ceiling, works of history, Portugal and Europe are preserved on the shelves
Library – Photo: besisluxe.com
Some bindings impose coats of arms dating back to the eighteenth century – There are about 2,000 books, a small part of the collection of the Count de Castro Guimarães, which, in all, gathers 25,000 books – works of universal history, and the history of Portugal, Music, Marine and Romance.
Detail – library books – Photo: besisluxe.com
Nancy looking at book displays
Icons of Christ display
The Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa competed for Librarian, but his candidacy lost to the painter Carlos Bonvalot.
Poet Fernando Pessoa
An important treasure of the museum is the sixteenth century Chronicle of King D. Afonso Henriques I by Duarte Galvão, dating from 1505, in which the first known representation of the city of Lisbon, by António d’Ollanda.
Chronicle of King D. Afonso Henriques I by Duarte Galvão, dating from 1505
Dining Room – In this room, which was originally a large terrace, stands a fountain coated with featured arabizante tiles.
Dining Room
In the glass cabinets are pieces of jewelry, French and Portuguese silver of the Seventeenth Century and Chinese porcelain.
José de Figueiredo Room – So named because its filling was bequeathed by this former member of the Administrative Commission of the Museum, it was the ancient bathroom and dressing room of the Count.
José de Figueiredo Room – Photo: Cascais.pt
Cabinets or Indo-Portuguese Room – In this space there is a mix of cultures. Highlighted is a screen from the Chinese eighteenth century exuberantly decorated with vegetal motifs and landscapes with constructions.
Cabinets or Indo-Portuguese Room
Gallery – In the gallery, covered by lattice windows, there are significant sculptures of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and fine art paintings.
Sculptures and fine art paintings in the Gallery
With particular emphasis on artistic creations of Romanticism to the late-naturalism, of which the collection of the Museum includes an important group of works, including, among others, Miguel Ângelo Lupi, Giacomo Grosso, Columbano Bordalo Pinheiro, João Vaz, Sousa Pinto, Carlos Reis and Carlos Bonvalot.
Nude Woman – by Giacomo Grosso (c. 1898)
Gallery – Photo: besisluxe.com
Small or Tea Room – On the first floor is the Small Room, or rather the Tea Room, because it was here that the Countess received her friends to drink tea and talk
Tea room
Bedroom – The Bedroom, has a tapestry hanging over the beds, with a display case full of artifacts
Bedroom with tapestry – Photo: besisluxe.com
Tower/Hall of Arms – The Tower/Hall of Arms is a space dedicated to the presentation of the Museum’s armoire collection and highlighting the richly decorated ceiling with the coats of arms of the ancestors of Jorge O’Neil.
Coat of arms – tower – Photo: besisluxe.com
This concludes our tour of the Museu Condes de Castro Guimarães (Museum Counts de Castro Guimarães). We now started walking north from the museum on Avenida Rei Humberto II de Itália, seeing various other Cascais sites before arriving at our accommodation…
Casa Duarte Pinto Coelho – The current Duarte Pinto Coelho House occupies the former House of the Guards of the Palace of the Counts de Castro Guimarães.
Casa Duarte Pinto Coelho – Photo: Cascais Portugal Tourism
Nowadays, it displays the collections of famed interior decorator Duarte Pinto Coelho, a “cascaense” who lived a large part of his life in Madrid.
Casa Duarte Pinto Coelho exhibit – Photo: 360.cascais.pt
Cost/Hours – €1; Open Tuesday – Sunday, 10 am – 6 pm, closed Monday; Av. Rei Humberto II de Itália, Parque Marechal Carmona, 2750-642 Cascais.
We visited a temporary exhibition on “Liturgical Vestments”, with clergy clothing from the 16th to the 20th century: stoles, chasubles, body pouches and more, in materials such as gold, satin or silk.
“Liturgical Vestments” exhibition
As we continued north from here, we reached a roundabout at the intersection of Avenida Rei Humberto II de Itália, Avenida da República, and Avenida Dom Carlos I.
Here we continued north on the Largo da Assunção to see…
Igreja de Nossa Senhora da Assunção (Church of Our Lady of the Assumption) – Dedicated to Our Lady of Assumption, this church was originally built in the 1500s, on the site of a Visigothic necropolis. It was greatly damaged in the 1755 earthquake that destroyed most of Lisbon, but was restored soon after.
Igreja de Nossa Senhora da Assunção (Church of Our Lady of the Assumption) – Wikimedia – Mtfaidherbe
It remains Cascais’ main church, and retains the original tile panels that were added from 1720 to 1748, depicting scenes of the life of the Virgin. Another example, illustrating the Apocalypse, is more recent, from 1908. The main altar is a fine example of Portuguese gilded woodwork, while up on the walls is a number of 17th-Century paintings. Some of those were painted by Josefa d’Obidos, one of Portugal’s most prolific painters and one of the few female artists in the world at the time.
Interior of the church – Photo: paroquiadecascais.org
Outside the church, there is a statue of Pope John Paul II (Papa João Paulo II).
Statue of Pope John Paul II (Papa João Paulo II)
From the church, we headed directly west on Avenida da República until we saw on our right…
House of Stories Paulo Rego (Casa das Histórias Paula Rego) – This is a museum in Cascais, designed by the architect Eduardo Souto de Moura to house some of the works of the artist Paula Rego, long established in England.
House of Stories Paulo Rego (Casa das Histórias Paula Rego)
Eduardo Souto de Moura in 2011 won the Pritzker Prize (the Nobel Prize in architecture) which is awarded annually to the architect, still alive, who best complies with the principles enunciated by Vitrúvio: solidity, beauty and functionality. The museum was inaugurated in 2009, by the President of the Republic, Cavaco Silva, by the then mayor of the Chamber António Capucho, and by the artist Paulo Rego.
Costs/Hours – Open Tuesday – Sunday, 10 am – 6 pm (last entrance at 5:40 pm); Closed, Monday – €5 – Located at Avenida da República, 300.
Paulo Rego collection
Georgia and her cats again
From the House of Stories Paulo Rego (Casa das Histórias Paula Rego) we then did a “House Tour” of Cascais, ending up at our accomodation, Casa da Pergola.
Our first stop on our “House Tour” is across the street from the House of Stories Paulo Rego (Casa das Histórias Paula Rego)…
Casa de Nossa Senhora da Conceição (House of Our Lady of Conception) – This house, located at Rua Guilherme Gomes Fernandes 59, was built in 1917-1920 for D. Francisco de Avillez Lobo de Almeida Melo e Castro (1874-1935), brother of the 9th Count of Galveias, with a project by Guilherme Gomes, one of Raul Lino’s disciples, and built by Master Alfredo de Figueiredo.
Casa de Nossa Senhora da Conceição (House of Our Lady of Conception)
Our next stop on our “House Tour” is the…
Casa de Santa Maria da Travessa Visconde da Luz – This house was built on the ruins of a house with a date of unknown construction (post-earthquake 1755) that had a single floor and attic – What remains of the old house corresponds to the northern part of the central body.
Casa de Santa Maria da Travessa Visconde da Luz
The current construction was built in 1916, with the project of the architect Guilherme Gomes, a great defender of Portuguese taste (he was the same architect of the House of the Counts of Monte Real on Avenida Carlos I). It is one of the most characteristic buildings of the Summer Architecture, with a layout of the “Casa Portuguesa (Portuguese House)” of the type the architect Raul Lino popularized.
It was with this house that began a refined style of use of the tile with vegetal themes that are surrounding pots and cartons, framing doors and windows with frames; and to cover the platibanda and the corúcra of the tower.
Tiles with vegetal themes
Our next stop is the…
Teatro Gil Vicente – Located in Largo Rodrigues de Lima, at R. Gomes Freire 5, the Teatro Gil Vicente (Theater of Gil Vicente) was constructed on the ancient Solar dos Falcões, formerly Solar D. Carlos I, by Manuel Rodrigues de Lima in 1864.
Teatro Gil Vicente
Inaugurated in 1869, with a capacity for 500 viewers, it has performed shows with the greatest figures of the theater. It should be noted that the theater was built even before the Royal Family came to Cascais, who brought with them the usual nobility – once they arrived, they would be among the frequent viewers of the theater.
Interior of the theater – Photo: Messiah and the Hot Tones
House of the Exposed – Located at the corner of Tv. Vitória and R. Latino Coelho, this house, at the time of its inception in the eighteenth century with only one floor, was located the Casa dos Expostos (House of the Exposed) or Casa da Roda (House of the Wheel).
House of the Exposed
It was a house that collected “Enjeitadas” children and had a drum-shaped mechanism or revolving door where children were left in such a way at the house that in the “evening” they could not identify who had left them. Towards the end of the eighteenth century, when Portugal finally took up the need to join forces to protect the nation from the misfortunes of others, was created in Lisbon, according to the orders of the Intendant-General of Police Pina Manique and the directives of Queen Maria, a charity called the House of the Exposed (Casa dos Expostos).
The House of the Exposed (Casa dos Expostos) was created in the year 1822 in Cascais, receiving on July 27 a first male child, who was later baptized with the name of Prudêncio and who would die a year later. The house where the “Roda (Wheel)” door worked was situated in a small building on Travessa da Nazaré, which still exists today although much altered in its original urbanistic formulation. This door had a wooden wheel, which revolved around a central axis, so that the encased children could be placed inside, without any kind of identification (especially at night) of the person responsible for the act.
Then the children passed quickly into the hands of a nurse who took them in and, at the expense of the state, promoted their education during the first years of life. These nurses, who were also humble figures dedicated to the office of financial necessity, were obliged to be married and minimally prepared to perform their duties, as can be read in the order of the intendant: “[…] a married, fruitful, well-built and acted, which will be preserved for as long as possible”.
When the Exposed did reach the age of seven (the malnutrition mortality was 65%), the grant ended and they were then handed over to the judge of orphans – they were then assigned to work as boys until they were 12, and their pay was being allowed to eat, drink, and dress. After the age of 12, a “soldier” was established and exposed to a craft with qualified masters – only at the age of 20 were they emancipated and were not subject to the judge of the orphans. Records report that the practice continued in Cascais at least until 1886.
Vinhos Mercearia Tabacos – This unusual storefront is located at the corner of Rua Marques Leal Pancada and Rua Manuel Vieira de Araújo Viana. This building dates back to the nineteenth century, but it changed in 1992 when Arq. Fernanda F. Paraíso adapted it to a grocery store/bar with rooms in the upper two floors.
Vinhos Mercearia Tabacos
Largo Luís de Camões – This square contains a café and a statue of the famous Portuguese poet Luís de Camões.
Estatua Luis de Camões – Photo: TripAdvisor
Casa da Pergola (House of Pergola) – Our home base in Cascais is the Casa da Pergola. Along with great service and rooms, the front of the house was beautiful.
Casa da Pergola (House of Pergola)
This ends our day in Cascais, Portugal.