Most people visit Belém and walk past Palácio Nacional da Ajuda without realizing how much history is behind it.
The story begins with the 1755 earthquake, one of the most destructive earthquakes in European history. King D. José I was so traumatized that he refused to live under a stone roof again.
So the royal family moved to Ajuda, far from the ruined city centre, and built a temporary palace in wood and canvas. People called it the Real Barraca, the Royal Hut.
That wooden palace became the home of the Portuguese court for almost three decades, until a fire destroyed it in 1794.
The stone palace we see today started being built in 1802, but history kept getting in the way. The royal family fled to Brazil during the Napoleonic invasions, money was short, and the building was never fully completed.
It was only with King D. Luís I and Queen Maria Pia of Savoy that the palace truly came to life in the 19th century.
Today, you can visit around 20 rooms, from private apartments to grand halls used for banquets and official ceremonies. The scale is impressive, but what I like most is that it still feels calm compared with other Lisbon monuments.
No huge queues and a lot of space to actually enjoy the visit.
In my opinion, Palácio Nacional da Ajuda is one of the most underrated museums in Lisbon.
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