The Palace of Ajuda is outside the city centre on top of a hill to the west. The easiest way to get to it is by rickety tram.
The palace, originally destroyed by fire in 1795 was replaced in the 19th century by the imposing Neo classical building that is now the National Royal Palace.
The entrance is hidden away in the main arches.
To visit you are encouraged to follow a marked "trail" through the many rooms.
The furnishings and paintings are very rich and each room has its own style and character.
The carpets and tapestries are occasionally interspersed with classical French furniture and oriental vases.
Above is the "music room" apparently the royal family was very musical and composed original pieces.
As we have come to expect in Portugal decorated frescos adorn almost every ceiling.
This is the extraordinary Saxe room, a wedding present to Princess Maria Pia de Saoia when she married Luis I. it was presented by the King of Saxony.
Apart from being overwhelmingly pink (very girly) every piece of furniture is decorated with Meissen porcelain.
Information in the form of returnable handouts in several languages are available describing every room. you can also avail yourself of an audio tour but we prefer the old fashioned approach.
The royal bedchamber with beautiful silk wallpaper.
The royal crib, there is a photograph of the infant (later king ) Carlos and his parents. He was born in the "Green Room ".
This is the family dining room fully place set for dinner.
Pictures on the wall remind you of Lisbon's maritime past and the part that the river Tagus has played in Portuguese history.
the river itself is visible clearly from the Palace windows.
After the family rooms the tour leads you to the State rooms, above is the impressive dining room.
Of course the throne room is also suitably impressive.
We were very impressed with this particular National monument, Although I am not a fervent Royalist its nice to see that so much history survived and was preserved during the dark days of Salazar and the fascists.
Even the sun came out at the end! Lovely.......
No comments:
Post a Comment