Belém Palace

President Bernardino Machado receiving the Sacred Union Government in the Billiards Room, 1916.

Following the 5 October 1910 Revolution, the Secretaria-Geral da Presidência da República (Secretary-General of the Presidency) moved into the palace on 24 August 1911, as article 45 of the Constitution prohibited the Chief of State from occupying a residence on properties held by the State. A loophole in the document allowed the authorization on 28 June 1912 of a government edict to rent an annex alongside the Palace for 100,000 réis per month to house the first President Manuel de Arriaga, who eventually preferred to live in his local residence and work at the palace. This policy of renting the space continued throughout the period of the First Republic.[2][4]

After the assassination of President Sidónio Pais in 1918 at the Rossio railway station, the ex-President's body lay in state in the Sala Luís XV (Luís XV Hall) until his burial.[2][4]

The official residency law for the President of the Republic was promulgated on 24 March 1928. It specified that the President and his family would be permitted to reside in one of the national palaces. At the time of the promulgation, General Óscar Carmona decided to reside in the Citadel of Cascais, leaving the Palace of Belém for ceremonial affairs, official meetings, receptions and other formal occasions. In anticipation of the projected visit of the King of Spain, the Palace underwent several renovations, although the visit did not materialize. In 1936, the main staircase was expanded by António Lino and finished by Cristino da Silva.[4]

During the term of General Francisco Craveiro Lopes (1951–1952) the Arrábida wing was remodelled to serve as the residence of the President of the Republic.[2][4]

In 1967, the property was finally classified as a IIP - Imóvel de Interesse Público (Property of Public Interest), by decree 47-508, published in the Diário do Governo on 24 January 1967. The Palace was closed in 1969 to repair damage from the earthquake of that year.[4]

Former President Aníbal Cavaco Silva receiving Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff in the Sala das Bicas, 2013.

After the Carnation Revolution, the palace was made the headquarters of the Junta de Salvação Nacional (National Salvation Junta).[1][2][4] It also experienced the traumas of the new democracy with the counter-revolutionary attempts by António Spínola and Francisco da Costa Gomes.[1] As in previous administrations, Belém Palace underwent new renovations in the Arrábida wing in order to accommodate the demands of the President and his family. While some Presidents resided in Belém, others such as Mário Soares, Jorge Sampaio, Aníbal Cavaco Silva and the current President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa) used it merely as a workplace, living in their private residences during their terms.[4]

Between 1980 and 1985, the main dining hall was used to exhibit gifts received by the Chief of State.[1][2] In 1998, the construction of the Centro de Documentação e Informação (Documentation and Information Centre), was begun by architect João Luís Carrilho da Graça, winner of a public competition promoted by the Secretary-General of the Presidency.[3][4]

President Jorge Sampaio commissioned painter Paula Rego for a series of paintings to decorate the walls of the Palace chapel in 2002. The painter eventually gave her works entitled "Ciclo da Vida da Virgem Maria e da Paixão de Jesus Cristo" (Cycle of Life of the Virgin Mary and the Passion of Jesus Christ". The early exhibitions and Presidential initiatives would lead to the inauguration on 5 October 2004 of the Presidential Museum (Portuguese: Museu da Presidência da República). Similarly, the King D. Luís I Painting Gallery was the setting for the 2005 exposition, Do Palácio de Belém, which presented the history of the palace and its architecture, as well as an overview of artistic works that have been displayed there.[4]

On 10 March 2006, a Ministry of Culture dispatch reclassified the Palace as a National Monument to include the palace, gardens, Museum of the Presidency and other annexes.[3]

Belém Palace is a "L" shape building, with the main space located in a rectangular three-volume space in the south façade. This front, which faces the formal gardens, presents a space of five bodies, flanked by wedges surmounted by pinnacles. A combination of Mannerist and Baroque styles, has a central body with floor level arcades, over a colonnade gallery surmounted by a triangular pediment decorated in stucco.

The two outside blocks are farther in front then the main building, forming a terrace delimited by balusters and accessible by lateral staircases. The top of these lateral walls are topped by twelve panels of monochromatic azulejo tile. On the veranda are 14 azulejo panels representing figures from mythology, with many showing the "Labours of Hercules", including "Plutão e Cérbero" (Pluto and Cerberus), "Vénus" (Venus), "Neptuno" (Neptune), "Hércules" (Hercules), "Hércules e a égua de Diómedes" (Hercules and the Mares of Diomedes), "Figura masculina" (Masculine figure), "Figura masculina com arco e flechas" (Masculine figure with bow and arrow), two panels of "Figura feminina" (Female figure), "Hércules e a ave de Estinfália" (Hercules and the Stymphalian birds), "Figura masculina com machado" (Masculine figure with hoe), "Hércules e a serpente de Ládon" (Hercules and the serpent Ladon), "Hércules e o touro de Creta" (Hercules and the Cretan Bull), "Hércules e a Hidra de Lerna" (Hercules and the Lernaean Hydra). There are also two rows of tiles with geometric patterns and acanthus leaves.[4]

The Pátio dos Bichos, during a review of the Presidential Guard.

The eastern façade, which fronts the Pátio das Damas (Lady's Patio), features two levels of windows and portal. The western wing is served from the Pátio dos Bichos (Animals' Patio), where a gated entrance and ramp provides access to the principal staircase via an elevated space that overlooks the Jardim da Cascata (Falls Garden).[4] The space was resurfaced and re-paved with stone at the beginning of the 21st century.[5]

Immediately in front of the palace, fronting the Rua de Belém, are the formal gardens. Of an 18th-century design, they consist of a terrace enclosed by a balustrade adorned with statues and intersecting pattern of hedges around three circular ponds. In the Jardim da Cascata (in the northwest corner of the grounds) there are three pavilions (greenhouses) of capstone topped by a decorative railing, with vases and statues. Inserted within a rounded-arch is a waterfall featuring a statue of Hercules.[4]

In the central pavilion are six azulejo panels forming a figurative composition, completed in the 19th century. The central composition is in black and white, while the trim is polychromatic: yellow, green and manganese plant ornamentation. These panels include: an "Outdoor Scene", "Two female figures and a male figure in the park, with fruit basket", "Standing female figure gives an apple to a male figure", a "Backgammon game", "Music in the Garden" and "Music in the Garden, with harpsichord and violin".[4]

President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa in the Presidential Office with former President of Brazil Michel Temer.

The main space is highlighted by a linear sequence of rooms along the south elevation, dominated by the Sala das Bicas, a grand vestibule paved in marble. The ceiling is paneled with an allegorical composition of carved flora and 18th-century polychromatic azulejo ashlars, completed in the last quarter of that century. In the space one can observe along one wall two round marble fountains with lion heads, which give the space its name. In addition, the space is surrounded by eight jasper busts on plinths, representing Roman emperors.

In the Sala Dourada or Salão de Baile (Golden Room or Ballroom, respectively) the ceiling is paneled with a central allegory of the Roman Empire, with murals and crown moulding medallions in a neo-Pompeian motif.

The Sala Luís XV (Louis Quinze Room), also panelled, is highlighted by a series of paintings surmounted two shields of the House of Braganza and Orléans.[4]

The narrow rectangular chapel, with smooth walls and wood paneling, is occupied by a Neoclassical retable in gold-leafed wood, with a painting by André Reinoso representing the "A Adoração dos Pastores" (The Adoration of the Shepherds).[6] The vaulted ceiling is decorated with a profusion of decorative motifs in a "ferronneire" similar to those found in the Sala Dourada.[4] On the walls are paintings by the artist Paula Rego, representing the "Ciclo da Vida da Virgem Maria e da Paixão de Jesus Cristo" (Circle of Life of the Virgin Mary and the Passion of Christ).[4]