Palácio Galveias Library
A 17th-century palace at Campo Pequeno, a municipal library since 1931, with events, guided tours and gardens.
Palácio Galveias Library
Next to Campo Pequeno, surrounded by universities and institutions such as Culturgest and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, the Palácio Galveias was built in the seventeenth century by a member of the Távora family as a country house set in an estate with parks and gardens. Later acquired by the 5th Count of Galveias, from whom it takes its name, it was sold again in the nineteenth century and in 1928 was bought by Lisbon City Council, which opened the Municipal Archive, Library and Museum to the public there on 5 July 1931. Between 2015 and 2017 the library underwent extensive refurbishment, combining the palace's architectural and artistic details with up-to-date spaces, furniture and services. It is a place steeped in memory: under the Estado Novo, censored books were kept on shelves closed with blue tape tied crosswise and sealed with wax, and it was here that José Saramago, who said he had found "the world" at the Galveias, chose to give his last interview, in 2009. Today it is part of the Lisbon Libraries network and hosts lectures, workshops and guided tours of the palace, as well as a café and terraces in the gardens; the José Saramago Room serves as a study room until midnight.
Located at: Bibliotecas de Lisboa (BLX)
Address: Campo Pequeno, 1049-064 Lisboa
Opening hours: Monday to Saturday 10:00-20:00; José Saramago Room (study) until 24:00 (closed on Sundays)
Phone: +351 218 173 090
Coordinates: 38.7414704, -9.1435673
Buses: 756, 754, 727, 738, 783, 732, 736, 744, 798, 52B
Metro: Campo Pequeno (Yellow), Saldanha (Red, Yellow)
Train: Cintura Line, Entrecampos Station, Cintura Line, Roma-Areeiro Station
Opened: 1931 (95 years)
