Mafra National Palace — Attraction in Mafra

We visited the Mafra National Palace as part of a private tour and it was amazing (a word I rarely use). We had the palace, essentially, to ourselves. It was the most impressive palace we saw while in Portugal and yet it has not become a tourist hotspot. We highly recommend visiting the Mafra National Palace if you are interested in Portuguese history and architecture.

The palace was built as a promise to God by King John V after the birth of his first son. The king was so grateful for the birth of a male heir that he vowed to build a grand palace and monastery in honor of the Virgin Mary. The palace was designed by the German architect Johann Friedrich Ludwig and construction took over 30 years to complete.

Here are some of the highlights of our visit:

The grand staircase: The staircase in the palace is one of the most impressive features. It is made of marble and is decorated with statues and gold leaf.

The basilica: The basilica is a large church with two towers and six(!) organs. The organs are some of the largest in the world and are played every Sunday.

The library: The library is one of the largest in Portugal and contains over 36,000 volumes. The library is open to the public and is a great place to learn about Portuguese history and culture. We preferred it to the Coimbra library. Even "unfinished" it was a breathtaking sight.

The palace's collection of art and artifacts: The Mafra National Palace is home to a collection of art and artifacts that is truly impressive. We were particularly impressed by the palace's collection of Baroque paintings, and the collection of antique furniture.

Overall, we had a wonderful experience visiting the Mafra National Palace. It is a truly impressive building, and its history and architecture are fascinating. We highly recommend visiting the palace as part of a private tour, as this will allow you to get the most out...

Those 4 stars are solely for the building itself. In terms of visit or "museum" experience, this one of the most disappointing of my entire life.

Coming from a region known for its numerous castles, I had some expectations regarding a World Patrimony building. Those expectations were all turned down.

I have never ever visited such a monument in which people working there will just have conversations across the hallways. The Palace being huge, the echo is also really strong. I believe that it's not necessary for the stuff to be yelling at each other from two sides of a room. On top of being extremely disrespectful for the people visiting, it is also highly unprofessional. To have to tell those people to stop yelling is still something that shocks me as I'm writing this.

The second point is the place to visit, itself. While the Palace is really impotent, the areas to visit are ridiculously small. Not to be able to go to the gardens, walk around the Palace etc is really extremely disappointing. But nothing compared to the Library. Being able to only walk 2 meters inside this room full of more than 35K books is more frustrating than not having the chance to go in. While I can understand that some areas might be closed for obvious reasons, it was still disappointing.

Also, the lack of explanations about the Palace and the Art there is honestly embarrassing. It seems like the bare minimum was done. We even have a typo on the description of the Maquette. It might be a good idea to provide people more explanations and context about the Palace, it's history and how it resonates with the art there. So, maybe the reviews won't only be about the architecture...

Finally, it was a cool place to hide from the heat, and the pastelaria in front, Fradinho was worth it, but let's talk about it in another review.

P.S. Accessible...

This was my third visit to Portugal, but the very first I've visited this Palace. It's set in Mafra, less than an hour drive from the capital. You're pretty amazed when this beautiful huge edifice comes into your sight - terrific white/yellow Baroque Palace. Mafra is a very small town (village), so such a huge Palace is not expected here and looks disproportional with its surroundings. I think its size rivals the Versailles palace. The complex dates back to 18 cent built for King Joao V and consists of a convent on the ground floor, Palace rooms on the first floor, Basilica and Royal Library. For such a complex entry fee is incredibly cheap (6 Euros if I remember correctly) and includes access to everything. Signage is good with explanations of the rooms, however the interiors I found pretty underwhelming - don't expect lavish decors like in similar European palaces. Rooms are huge, but lacking in decorations and look semi empty. Also, the maintenance should be improved - many items are filthy and look neglected. The Library is at the far end of the Palace complex - requires 2 km of walking as we were informed by the staff. It houses around 36000 old, rare and important books, beautifully arranged. However, it is far from the beauty of Coimbra library. Basilica is wonderful, very rich in marble decorations. Count on around hour and a half...