The spacious royal apartments are situated on the second floor. The apartments of the king are situated at the end of the palace while the apartment of the queen is 200 m away at the other end. Such was this distance that, when the king left his apartment towards the apartment of the queen, this was announced to the queen by the sound of a trumpet.
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.
Main Gallery
One of the largest palace corridors in Europe, 232 meters across, connects the North Tower, the King’s quarters, to the Queen’s room in the South Tower.
Cameroon Room
Room where the chamberlains remained when the Royal Family was in Mafra.
The late 18th century ceiling painting by Cirilo Volkmar Machado represents in the center the “Quinas of Portugal” surrounded by several Greek gods and the “Fecundity”, which has cornucopias of abundance in each hand, from which they emerge. Children holding flower wreaths. It is an invocation to the fecundity of Princess D. Carlota Joaquina de Bourbon, married to the future king D. João VI.
South Tower
Queen’s private quarters. Her Majesty’s Bed Room
The mural decoration was carried out during the 1855/58 construction campaign, on the occasion of the ascension to the throne of D. Pedro V and his marriage to D. Estefânia de Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen.
It was in the room of this Tower that King Manuel II spent the last night in Portugal, before his departure into exile, when the Republic was established on October 5, 1910.
South Oratory
Private chapel of the South Tower rooms, originally intended for the queen.
Ceiling painting by Cirilo Volkmar Machado, commissioned by Prince Regent D. João (future king D. João VI) and his wife, D. Carlota Joaquina, in the late 18th century. Represents St. John the Baptist, St. Charles Borromeo and St. Antony prostrate before the Holy Trinity asking for offspring to the throne.
D. Pedro V Room
This division and decoration reflects the romantic experience of the nineteenth century and dates from the campaign of works carried out in this Palace upon the ascension of D. Pedro V to the throne in 1855 and his marriage to D. Estefânia de Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen in 1858.
It was also called the Red Room or Waiting Room, as guests were waiting here before being announced by the curtain to be received by the Royal Family in the Music Room.
Music Room
Also known as the Yellow Room or Reception Room. The Royal Family welcomed their guests here, replacing the Audience Hall (from the North Tower) after D. Pedro V abolished the traditional royal hummingbird on festive dates.
Playroom
Here are some games used in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, such as the Chinese Billiards, the pool table or “Russiana” and the game spinning top.
Hunting Room
Mafra Palace was regularly visited by the Royal Family who came here several times a year, usually to hunt in the Tapada. All the furniture and decoration of this room is allusive to this taste of kings.
Dining room
Late 19th century dining house. The table and chairs were executed in the Penitentiary of Lisbon and offered to King D. Carlos.
Great Hall of the Friars
Recreation of the conventual space made with the original furniture of the eighteenth century, since the convent was ceded to the Army since 1841. There is an oval table with benches that belonged to one of the Brotherhoods established by D. João V in Mafra and a Lamp 18th Century Dark Wood, so-called for use in Holy Week ceremonies.
Celas Fradesca
Recreation of a friar’s convent cell with its 18th century furniture.
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.