Description of the attraction
The dominant feature of the city of Mafra, lying in a crevice between the hills, is the monastery, the construction of which began in 1717 and was completed only 18 years later. King Joan V vowed to build a monastery in Mafra if his wife Maria Anna of Austria would give him a son. The joy of the birth of a son corresponded to the grandeur of the project: a facade 220 meters long, stone and marble used in incredible quantities, statues sculptured in Italy and brought here with great difficulty intact, huge bells.
The rooms of the sumptuous palace occupy the entire monumental western façade, with the royal apartments at one end and the queen's apartments at the other. The interior of the palace basilica, made of marble in contrasting colors, is decorated with Baroque sculptures made by Portuguese masters of the 18th century. The magnificent library with marble floors and wooden rococo bookshelves holds over 40,000 books in leather and gold cases.
