Overview

The Palácio da Ajuda was built on the site of the 'Royal Cabin', the temporary living quarters of the Portuguese royal family for a time after the enormous 1755 earthquake that largely destroyed the city. In 1795, Manuel Caetano de Sousa began work on the palace. He introduced the neo-Classical aesthetic and incorporated the new ideas of architects Francisco Xavier Fabri and José da Costa e Silva. Despite the magnificence of the plans and security of the financing, the palace's construction was interrupted on many occasions, until D. Luis Maria Pia de Sabóia contracted Joaquim Possidonio Narciso da Silva as a design specialist, who gave the palace new exotic spaces and many of its other aspects of functional character. The palace was transformed into a museum in 1968, and it also serves as the headquarters of the Ministry of Culture.