April 5, 2019:
Palace and Garden of the Marquises of Fronteira – The Fronteira palace is one of the most beautiful seventeenth-century monuments in Lisbon. It holds the largest collection of seventeenth-century “azulejos” (Portuguese tiles) preserved in situ. It was built around 1670 and was used as a second residence and hunting lodge by the Mascarenhas family. The family moved to Benfica in 1755, after their main downtown residence was destroyed in the Lisbon earthquake.
Fronteira palace and gardens – Photo: Wall St Journal
The palace is an ancient manor house preserved in a form very close to its original design. Classified as a national monument, it is also the home of the descendants of Dom João de Mascarenhas, the first Marquis of Fronteira, who ordered the construction of the palace.
Azulejos on the walls of the palace
Cost and Hours – The Gardens are open for self-guided tours Monday – Saturday and public holidays, 10 am – 6 pm (last entrance at 5:30 pm), closed Sunday; €7, €3 audio guide. The Palace is open only to guided tours, English Tours 10 am, 11:30 am, 1 pm, 2:30 pm, 4 pm, Monday – Saturday (we didn’t take the guided Palace tour – only a self-guided Gardens tour).
Getting There – From the Avenida Metro stop (direction Reboleira), we got off at Jardim Zoológico, and then took an Uber to the entrance (we could have walked 18 minutes).
Gardens Plans
Aerial View of the gardens and palace – Google Earth
Tour of the Gardens
Formal Gardens – The formal gardens are spread out over 13 acres and in addition to having well-manicured hedges, are sprinkled with statues.
The Formal Gardens
Knight’s Tank and King’s Gallery – The Formal Gardens are flanked to the south by a monumental lake called Knight’s Tank with a wall and upper gallery. The wall is divided into several arches, three of which lead to grottos. The other arches are covered with azulejos depicting noble horsemen. On top of the wall, the King’s Gallery has niches and busts representing the kings of Portugal. On either side of the King’s Gallery two monumental staircases lead to/from the Formal Gardens.
Knight’s Tank and King’s Gallery
Views of the Formal Gardens from the King’s Gallery
Garden of Venus – Access to the Garden of Venus from the Formal Gardens is via a staircase decorated with azulejos or via an arch and walkway from the King’s Gallery.
Entrance to the Garden of Venus from King’s Gallery
Garden of Venus
Casa do Fresco – At the south side of the Garden of Venus stands a pavilion (casa do fresco in Portuguese), with an extremely rare decorative scheme of figurative azulejos and ornamental grotto-work. The façade is completely covered with grotto-work, creating a porch with a central pediment on top of which there are two pinnacles either side and a cartouche with the coat of arms of the Marquis’ wife, Madalena de Castro. Facing the pavilion stands the S-shaped lake flanked by walls and covered with azulejos. The tiles depict satirical scenes in which monkeys and cats represent everyday life.
Casa do Fresco
View of the Garden of Venus from the Casa do Fresco
Arts’ Terrace – The Arts’ terrace is totally covered with figurative and ornamental azulejos painted in blue and manganese on a white background. The terrace is named on account of the azulejos depicting Poetry and the Seven Liberal Arts. Marble life-size statues, placed in niches, depict pagan gods. Over the niches are medallions in the ‘della Robbia’ style in which are several busts of Roman Emperors. At the end of the terrace is the chapel.
Arts’ Terrace
Chapel – This is a small oratory with close proximity to the palace. Its entrance can be accessed via the Arts’ Terrace.
Entrance to the Chapel
Chapel Baptismal Font
View from the Chapel to the Garden of Venus
The Chapel
Georgia loves her cats
National Palace of Quelez – Our next stop, via Uber, was another palace, the National Palace of Quelez. The Palace of Queluz (Palácio de Queluz) is an 18th-century palace located at Queluz, a city of the Sintra Municipality, in the Lisbon District, on the Portuguese Riviera. One of the last great Rococo buildings to be designed in Europe, the palace was conceived as a summer retreat for King José I’s brother, Pedro of Braganza, later to become husband and king jure uxoris (as King Pedro III) to his own niece, Queen Maria I. It eventually served as a discreet place of incarceration for Maria I, when she became afflicted by severe mental illness in the years following Pedro III’s death in 1786.
Queen Maria I and King Pedro III, the founders of Queluz Palace
National Palace of Queluz
Queluz Palace Map – ParquesDeSintra
Following the destruction of Ajuda Palace by fire in 1794, Queluz Palace became the official residence of the Portuguese Prince Regent João, and his family, and remained so until the royal family fled to the Portuguese colony of Brazil in 1807, following the French invasion of Portugal.
Queluz Palace Floor Plan
Cost/Hours – Open Daily, 9 am – 6 pm (last entry 5:30 pm); Adults – €13, Seniors – €10; Largo Palácio de Queluz, 2745-191 Queluz; +351 2192 37300.
Self-Guided Tour of the Palace:
1. Throne (mirrors) room – The Throne Room, aka Hall of Mirrors or Casa Grande, is the largest of the three similar ballrooms of the Queluz Palace – Its construction began in 1768, when D. Pedro’s (future D. Pedro III) marriage to his niece, the future Queen D. Maria I, justified the creation of a large space for official audiences of the Palace.
Throne Room (aka Mirror Room, Casa Grande) – Photo: peek.com
The construction of this new room, under the responsibility of the second architect of Queluz, the Frenchman Jean-Baptiste Robillion, was completed in 1774 – It was conceived as a regency-rococo style, the work of carving by the sculptor Silvestre de Faria Lobo, who coordinated a team of prestigious carvers – The allegorical paintings of the ceiling were executed under the guidance of the painter João de Freitas Leitão.
Throne Room door – Photo: Pinterest
Throne Room – Silvestre de Faria Lobo woodwork – Photo: thedreameryevents
2. Music room – The Sala da Música (Room of Music), also known as Sala da Serenatas (Room of Serenades), was often set up as the house of the Opera and was the scene of countless musical evenings.
Designed by the architect Mateus Vicente de Oliveira, it was completed in 1759, being one of the oldest rooms of the Palace – Its decoration is in gilded carving in reggae-rococo style, made by Silvestre Faria Lobo, using motifs allusive to music.
Music room – Google Street View
The room still contains the Empire grand piano, decorated with gilt appliques. Above the piano, hangs a portrait of Maria I.
Grand Piano in the Music Room – Photo: Wikimedia
3. Royal chapel – The Royal Chapel was one of the first spaces built by Mateus Vicente de Oliveira, the first architect of Queluz – It comprises a single nave.
Nave – Chapel – Photo: Facebook
Access to the chapel and upper tribune in old days was done by a ladder from the Lantern room – Here, behind a trellis, the Royal Family could attend religious services without being seen.
Trellis for royal family in chapel – Google Street View
The work of rococo-inspired gilded carving, executed under the direction of Silvestre de Faria Lobo, was completed as early as 1752 – It receives influences from the Chapel of Saint John the Baptist of the Church of São Roque, also becoming a reference for the religious buildings of the Lisbon region.
The altarpiece of the chancel representing Our Lady of the Conception, patroness of Queluz, by André Gonçalves (1687-1762), was completed in 1752.
Our Lady of Conception – by André Gonçalves – Photo: Facebook
The panel of the lateral altar representing the imprisonment of Saint Peter and Saint Paul is also of his authorship.
Imprisonment of Sts. Peter and Paul – by André Gonçalves – Photo: Facebook
The other lateral altar representing São Francisco de Paula was painted by Pedro Alexandrino de Carvalho (1730-1810) – from 1752 he also painted the ceiling with a thematic evocative of the Virgin.
São Francisco de Paula – by Pedro Alexandrino de Carvalho (1730-1810) – Photo: Facebook
Chapel ceiling with the theme of the Virgin – by Pedro Alexandrino de Carvalho (c. 1752) – Photo: travelswithmaitaitom.com
In the chancelled and golden choir there presided David Peres, Scarlatti and João Cordeiro da Silva, there also having sung, during the golden period of the Palace, many Italian artists.
Choir – Photo: iftr.org
4. Lantern room – This room was known as the Dark Room, and the opening now seen on the ceiling was opened by order of the French general Junot during the first French invasion of Portugal in 1807, which marked the start of the Peninsular War, part of the Napoleonic Wars.
Lantern Room – opening in the ceiling
The Infanta D. Isabel Maria (daughter of King João VI of Portugal and his wife Carlota Joaquina), administrator and regent for two years of the House of the Infantada on behalf of her brother D. Miguel, ordered the restoration of this room during the time of the infant’s exile in Vienna, Austria (due to the Liberal War), in order to lodge him there after his return in 1828 as King (he reigned from 1828 – 1834). D. Miguel never came to inhabit this space, but his imposing portrait, the largest of the Palace, continues to dominate the room.
Lantern Room with portrait of D. Miguel – Photo: travelswithmaitaitom.com
5. D. Maria Francisca Benedita rooms – From the private quarters of D. Maria Francisca Benedita (1746-1829), Princess of Brazil, the younger sister of Queen D. Maria I, are the Saleta, the D. Maria Style Room, the Imperial Style Room, and the Oratory. The current decoration of these rooms, in the neoclassical and empire styles, results from the remodeling carried out in the time of D. João VI, with ceilings and wainscoting of tempered canvas. The ornamentation reinforces the human scale of the rooms and the close relationship with the gardens, highlighting the archaeological and Pompeian themes – disseminated from the excavations of Pompeii and Herculaneum and Napoleon’s campaign in Egypt – including sphinxes and medallions with harbors. sea, in the style of Jean-Baptiste Pillement. Some of these elements are repeated in the ornamentation of the furniture.
Princess D. Maria Francisca Benedita
Saleta room – Google Street View
D. Maria Style room – Google Street View
Imperial Style room – Google Street View
The Cradle Room, a space adjacent to the Imperial Style Room, was part of the former “Hermitage Corridor”, an alternative backstage circuit that developed from the Ambassadors’ Hall and to the Chapel, behind the noble rooms with a facade facing the gardens.
Cradle room – Google Street View
In the center of the Princess’s room, on the axis of the garden of Malta, is a small Oratory which, built in 1788, is also known as the Chapel of Our Lady of Carmen, due to the image of Our Lady by whom Queen D Carlota Joaquina, who heard daily mass here, had a special devotion. The altar is by the carver António Angelo.
Oratory – Google Street View
6. Sculpture room and 7. Smoking room – The Sculpture Room, the Smoking Room and the Coffee Room are not currently part of the original wing of Princess Maria Francisca Benedita’s Quarters, and their names are due to their functions, which they had in the second half of the nineteenth century, during their short stays at the Palace of King D. Luís and Queen D. Maria Pia de Savoie. In the first space the queen installed her sculpture studio, while the other two served to drink coffee (room adjoining the dining room – see below) and to smoke, respectively.
Sculpture room – Google Street View
Coffee room – Google Street View
Smoking room – Google Street View
8. Dining room – The nomenclature of this room is recent, due to the function given to it by the last monarchs who used it – Indeed, the very notion of the Dining Room as a pre-defined space is relatively late.
Dining room – Google Street View
This was the exception of the Sala de Merendas (private dining room – see below), the most intimate space in the Robillion Pavilion, at the heart of the King’s private quarters, the place where the table was literally varied with the personal taste of the monarchs and the very location of their private apartments.
9. Porcelain and Earthenware room – Attached to the Dining Room, it presents a museographic arrangement for exhibiting the collection of European and Oriental porcelain and porcelain ware, mostly from the royal collections, including pieces from table services of the Royal House used in the Palace.
Porcelain and Earthenware room – Google Street View
Porcelain and Earthenware
10. Otter courtyard – The Porcelain and Earthenware Room leads to a small, intimate inner courtyard, provided with a lake designated by the curious name of Pátio da Otter, probably related to the presence here, at a certain time, of such an animal.
11. Azulejo corridor – Also known as the Sala das Manages, this is a long gallery lined with tiled wall panels. The tile panels covering the upper part of the walls, dating from 1784, of high technical quality and decorative effect, make up neoclassical polychrome panels attributed to the painter Francisco Jorge da Costa.
Azulejo corridor – Google Street View
They represent the four seasons, four continents, singeries [the name given to a visual arts genre depicting monkeys imitating human behavior, often fashionably attired, intended as a diverting sight, always with a gentle cast of mild satire – The term is derived from the French word for “Monkey Trick”] and chinoiseries [the imitation or evocation of Chinese motifs and techniques in Western art, furniture, and architecture, especially in the 18th century] with oriental figures and scenes from classical mythology.
Singeries and chinoiseries
The oldest paneling, along the baseboards, is decorated with blue and white panels depicting outdoor scenes, predominantly hunting, and is attributed to the painter Manuel da Costa Rosado, who would have done them in 1764.
Blue tiles
Also present here is one copy of the various “discovered to walk on the farm” carts, commissioned in 1767 by D. Pedro III and executed under the direction of Robillion, with Pompeian decoration and delicately carved wooden poles and wheels.
Colorful carts
12. Torch room – Also known as Sala da Tocha, this room is part of a set of rooms currently furnished with pieces illustrative of the three most representative styles of the Palace – D. Joseph, D. Maria and Imperial – which follow each other in chronological and pedagogical order.
Torch room – Google Street View
13. Bedroom D. Joseph style – Next door to the Torch room is a small bedroom, D. Joseph style.
D. Joseph’s Style – Google Street View
14. Guard room – Also known as the Gun Room, where hunting parties would assemble, this is a frescoed salon, painted with trees and foliage by Pillement. Located in the center of the Facade of Ceremonies, which marks the main axis of the gardens of apparatus, this room was once the noble entrance of the Palace, giving access to the Room of the Ambassadors.
Guard (Gun) room – Google Street View
It was the noble entrance of the Palace, which opened directly to the Garden (Jardim Pênsil – guarded by two sculptures, Mars and Minerva, by the English artist John Cheere), this was where the Guarda Real dos Archeiros mounted their guard.
Mars and Minerva guarding the castle – Google Street View
Archeiros, 1888
15. Room of individuals – also known as Sala dos Particulares, located in the central part of the Facade of Ceremonies, is currently furnished with Imperial style pieces. Still in the early twentieth century, its walls were covered with a rare wallpaper, already missing, representing battles between Turks and Greeks, visible in a photograph of the time. In this room awaited the waiters in the time of the Prince Regent, whose rooms were in the upper floor.
Room of individuals – Google Street View
This room contains a remarkable number of portraits of the family of Bragança.
Family of Bragança
16. Ambassadors’ room – Also known as Sala das Talhas, its construction began in 1754, by the architect Jean-Baptiste Robillion, and the model of this room was presented to the Infant D. Pedro in 1760.
Ambassador’s Room
In its construction were featured the French collaborators Jacques Antoine Colin, woodcarver, and Jean François Cragnier, assembler, and the Portuguese Bruno Jose do Vale and Francisco de Melo, who painted the ceiling and the crown with allegorical and chinoiserie motifs.
Ceiling motifs
Chinoiserie motif
The existence of two canopies for thrones (one on each end of the room), delimited by mirror columns, was justified by the ceremonies in which the kings were accompanied by the Princes of Brazil, a title by which the heirs princes were known.
Throne – Ambassador’s Room – Google Street View
From 1794, when Queluz became the permanent residence of the Royal Family, until 1807, the year of its departure for Brazil, this room was used by the Prince Regent for his audiences of the diplomatic corps and foreign ministers, who here presented credentials, so it became known as the Room of Ambassadors.
Departure of the Prince Regent of Portugal for Brazil on November 27, 1807, c. 1874
THE ROBILLON PAVILION
The west wing of Palace, adjacent to the Room of the Ambassadors, was added to the initial plan of the Palace by Jean-Baptiste Robillion, who replaced Mateus Vicente de Oliveira after being requested by the Marquis of Pombal for the reconstruction of Lisbon after the earthquake of 1755.
The Pavilion, now known by the name of the architect responsible for its construction, was erected after D. Pedro’s (future King D. Pedro III) marriage to D. Maria (future Queen Maria I). Here were the private rooms of many monarchs who inhabited the Palace (D. Pedro III, D. João VI, D. Carlota Joaquina, D. Miguel, D. Pedro IV).
It is the only area lined with parquet floors of exotic Brazilian wood, predominantly of pau-santo (holy wood) and pau-satin (satin wood), and with decorations in gilded and polychrome paper pulp (papier maché).
17. Office room – With neoclassical decoration, the walls are lined with oil panels on canvas representing Italian ruins of antiquity by the Italian set designer Giovanni Berardi, probably inspired by paintings by Giovanni Paolo Pannini (1691-1765).
Office room
On the ceiling, a large panel depicts an allegory of “Decorrer do Tempo (Time Running)”, executed in 1940 by the painter Fernando Mardel, which replaces the original of the same theme, missing in the 1934 fire.
In the time of D. Pedro III, this room served as a waiting room for the monarch’s chamberlains, likewise settling for banquets and suppers during the summer festivals of St. John and St. Peter, Prince Regent D. João used it for ministerial meetings, hearings and dispatch, for which he had a canopy erected thereon – Later, respectively, in 1830 and 1874, it was the bedroom of King D. Miguel and D. Luís.
18. Servants’ room – Also known as the Açafatas Room, this room served as an antechamber, where the ladies and maidens awaited orders in the service of the queen. It has walls lined with canvas, with Pillement-style temper painting.
Servants’ room – Google Street View
19. Private dining room – Also known as the Sala de Merendas – This room, which is substantially square and small in size, would be completed in 1767, to be believed in a document that refers to the payment “to the carpenter who laid the roses on the ceiling”, whose decorative composition suggests honeycombs.
Honeycomb ceiling – Google Street View
With an ornate golden paper paste to rococo taste, framing a set of four large figurative canvases and six still lifes, everything in this room evokes its function as a private dining room in the royal chambers.
Private dining room – Google Street View
The four large screens, rich in iconography, represent picnic lunches, where ladies and gentlemen, sitting informally on the ground and surrounded by their weapons and dogs, give themselves, on a hunting break, to the pleasures of conversation and gastronomy. A probable allegory of the seasons, perceptible by the attitude of the characters and the type of surrounding vegetation, allow us to identify the representation of the wall next to the private dining room with the Summer and the wall next to the garden with the Winter.
Depiction of a picnic
20. Don Quixote room – The name, Don Quixote Room, derives from the paintings in the cove and over the doors depicting scenes from the life of Don Quixote de La Mancha, by Cervantes.
Paintings of Don Quixote stories
Built in the third quarter of the 18th century, according to the design of the architect Jean-Baptiste Robillion, it creates the illusion of a circular space, given by the arrangement of the eight columns that cut the corners and support the dome of the ceiling, emphasized by the radiant decoration of the parquet.
Don Quixote room – Google Street View
Also known as the King’s Bedroom, this is the best known reception room in the palace and was the site of the birth of seven of the nine children born to João VI and Carlota Joaquina. One of them, Prince Pedro – first Emperor of Brazil and King of Portugal – was born here in 1798, and would also die here in 1834, prematurely at the age of 35, the victim of tuberculosis.
Picture of Pedro dying in bed here – Wikimedia – Julien Chatelain
Detail – D. Pedro dying
The ceiling, whose decoration is already in the neoclassical spirit, is topped by a central screen, having as its theme an “Allegory to Music” – The whole pictorial program of the room, realized in 1940 by the painter Fernando Mardel, resumes the subjects of the original screens, lost in the fire.
Ceiling – Allegory to Music
Oratory – In this oratory, common to the Don Quixote Room and to the Queen’s bedchamber, there is a delicate and rich work of gilt carving attributed to the sculptor António Ângelo. Decorated with the themes of the Passion of Christ, it presents in its interior a Christ on the Cross accompanied by the Holy Women.
Oratory – Don Quixote room and Queen’s bedchamber – Google Street View
Oratory – detail – Google Street View
21. Queen’s bedchamber – A single palace room with ornaments in folds of silver paper – This room, now reduced in relation to its original space, would have served as a bedroom, at different times, to D. Pedro III, to Prince Regent D. João and to Queen D. Carlota Joaquina.
Queen’s bedchamber – Google Street View
22. Queen’s dressing room – This space of boudoir or dressing room preserves its rococo decoration in gold and polychrome (papier maché) paper paste.
Queen’s dressing room
Framing the room are eleven panels of paintings painted on mirrors with children’s scenes, providing an interesting iconographic route on the various phases of the male and female toilettes of the eighteenth century.
Toilet usage in eighteenth century
The ceiling, with a floral decoration suggesting an open basket, presents a parallelism with the design of the wooden floor.
Floral ceiling of the Queen’s dressing room
Self-Guided Tour of the Gardens:
These Gardens cover about 16 hectares of the old Real Quinta de Queluz – The setting of festivals of the Royal Family, especially between 1752 and 1786, constitute an important landscape and patrimonial value, being considered of the most important historical gardens of Portugal.
Gardens Map – ParquesDeSintra
We took a limited tour of the Gardens at Queluz Palace. Here are the highlights:
A. Robillion or Lion’s Staircase – From the terrace outside of the west wing of the Palace, the Robillion or Lion’s Staircase leads down into the Gardens of the National Palace of Queluz.
Lion’s staircase from the West Wing of the Palace – Google Street View
Four lions mounted on top of the staircase – Google Street View
Walking south from the Robillion or Lion’s Staircase, on your left aligned along the Palace terrace is the…
B. Cascade of Shells – A Baroque fountain with a couple of statues at the top, it used to have nearby the Barraca Rica, a wooden pavilion that served as a pousada “guesthouse” for the Royal Family, completed in 1757 and now disappeared.
Cascade of Shells – Google Street View
Walking back north to the bottom of the Lions Staircase, to the west is the…
D. Tile Channel (over the Ribeira do Jamor) – Over the Ribeira do Jamor, which runs through Queluz Park, from north to south, was built a channel covered by panels of tiles, with a length of 115 meters – This Tile Channel was formerly known as Lago Grande.
The Channel – Google Street View
Tile Channel (over the Ribeira do Jamor)
Walk north from the Tile Channel until you see…
E. Cain and Abel (John Cheere) in the Largo dos Plátanos (Sycamore Square) – This sculptural group, which once topped the façade of the Throne Room, is located in the Largo dos Plátanos (Sycamore Square), based on a Giambologna marble original (1529-1608) existing at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London.
Cain and Abel sculptural group
Cain and Abel statue
Side sculpture – part of Cain and Abel group
From the Largo dos Platanos (Sycamore Square), walk northwest towards the Lake of Medals (Medallions Lake.) On your way you’ll see Aeneas and Anquises and the Abduction of Proserpina (John Cheere).
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Aeneas and Anquises
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Abduction of Proserpina
F. Lake of Medals (Medallions Lake) – This is the largest lake in the gardens (1764), in the form of a starry octagon.
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Medallions Lake
In its surroundings are presented two statues of John Cheere: Apollo and Diana.
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Apollo and Diana
Designed by Robillion in 1764, Medallions Lake is endowed with a complex system of fountains. Topping the fountains in the middle of the lake is another John Cheere sculpture: Eagle.
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Medallions Lake fountain topped with an eagle – Photo: Pinterest
Return to the Lion’s Staircase and follow the wall until it ends. Turn left and enter the Upper Gardens in the Knights’ (Fame’s) Gate.
The Pórtico da Fama (Portico of the Knights) – This gate has “Heroic Knights riding Pegasus”, two equestrian statues that delimit the passage from the Garden to the Park and mark the old main axis of access to the palace, bounded to the north by the Facade of Ceremonies and south by the Grand Cascade.
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Pórtico da Fama (Portico of the Knights) – Google Street View
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One of the “Knights”
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Upper Gardens – ParquesDeSintra
Next to the Pórtico da Fama (Portico of the Knights) are two interesting statues – look like lions with queens heads.
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Lion with queen head statue
As you enter the Upper or Superior Gardens, the first sculptures you see are in the Lake of Nereide. In Greek mythology, the Nereids are sea nymphs, the 50 daughters of Nereus and Doris, sisters to Nerites – They often accompany Poseidon, the god of the sea, and can be friendly and helpful to sailors, like the Argonauts in their search for the Golden Fleece.
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Sea Nymphs sculpture
Walk north to the center of the Garden of Pênsil. There are two fountains with grotesque sculptures.
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Grotesque sculptures fountain
Continue north to the centerpiece and most photographed part of the Gardens…
Lago de Neptuno (Lake of Neptune) (lead sculptures attributed to John Cheere) – This lead sculptural group is resting on a cliff covered with algae, representing Neptune and his entourage, composed of sea nymphs, sea boys, newts, dolphins, fish and snakes.
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Lake of Neptune – Google Street View
In the center, Neptune is on his knees, beards and long hair, holding a trident in his hands. He is surrounded by two boys: the rear one mounts a dolphin, and the one of the front, whose legs end in algae, holds the head of a fish that gushes water by the mouth. This set also includes a female figure on her knees, probably the nymph Nereid Tethys, with hair caught back down along the back, and five dolphins.
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Neptune set – Google Street View
Completing the set are four serpents, also in lead, wrapped around stone spheres, from whose mouth springs water
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Serpents set
Malta Garden – We finished up our tour of the Gardens of Queluz with the Malta Garden.
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Malta Garden
This concludes our tour of Queluz Palace and Gardens. We made our way via Uber to the small town of Carcavelos, Portugal (14-minute drive).
Carcavelos, Portugal
Lunch, Cozinha do Campo, Carcavelos – After touring palaces and gardens all day, we were ready for a good lunch. At the Cozinha do Campo, Carcavelos we had a good lunch, dessert, and tasty Carcavelos “dessert wine”; open Monday – Saturday, 8 am – 5 pm, closed Sunday; Tv. Paulo Jorge 23A, 2775-613 Carcavelos; +351 2145 70988.
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Cozinha do Campo
Cerâmica Artística, Carcavelos – The reason we stopped in Carcavelos for lunch is that is was easy walking distance to our real destination, Cerâmica Artística, Carcavelos, a well-known shop for Portuguese tiles (azulejos). Open Tuesday – Thursday, 9:30 am – 1 pm, 3 pm – 7:30 pm, closed, Friday – Monday; do N47 B, Av. Loureiro, 2775-599 Carcavelos; +351 2145 63267; https://ceramica-carcavelos.pt/.
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Cerâmica Artística, Carcavelos
We happened to ask the owner of Cerâmica Artística if we could see the tiles in the nearby Parish Church of Carcavelos (Igreja Paroquial de Carcavelos), and he indicated the church was closed, but he had a key and could give us a private tour (made our day!). The tiles originated from the 17th Century and Cerâmica Artística participated in their refurbishing.
Parish Church of Carcavelos (Igreja Paroquial de Carcavelos) – What luck! Our private tour of the church was beautiful! Cerâmica Artística did a wonderful job with the tile refurbishment.
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Beautiful tiles at the Parish Church of Carcavelos (Igreja Paroquial de Carcavelos)
We also happened to see this “tiled” sign while leaving the town…
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Carcavelos tiled Welcome Sign
Museum of the Orient, Lisbon – Our last stop of the day was the Museum of the Orient in downtown Lisbon. We knew we had plenty of time, since it was Friday and the Museum of the Orient closed at 8 pm (and was free from 6 pm – 8 pm).
Cost and Hours – Adult €6; free admission Friday 6pm–8pm; Open Tuesday – Thursday, 10 am – 6 pm; Friday, 10 am – 8 pm; Saturday – Sunday, 10 am – 6 pm; closed Monday; Doca de Alcantara Norte, Av. Brasília, 1350-352 Lisboa; +351 21 358 5200; http://www.foriente.pt/.
Since Carcavelos was on the Cascais-Lisbon train line, we took the train to the Orient Museum (38-minute ride, direction Lisboa – Cais du Sodre, 8 stops, got off at Alcantara-Mar).
The much-lauded Orient Museum displays a rich collection of Asian artefacts, mainly from Macau but also from Japan, East Timor and India.
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Artefacts – Museum of the Orient
The area dedicated to Chinese opera is just amazing with an incredible set of authentic Chinese masks and costumes.
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Masks and Costumes – Museum of the Orient