Fronteira Palace
In Benfica, the Marquises of Fronteira's 17th-century retreat, with box gardens and the largest in-situ collection of 17th-century tiles.
Palace of the Marquises of Fronteira – Fundação das Casas de Fronteira e Alorna
In São Domingos de Benfica, near Monsanto, the Fronteira Palace is a former seventeenth-century country retreat that survives very close to its original design. Around 1670, D. João de Mascarenhas, 1st Marquis of Fronteira, and his wife, D. Madalena de Castro, had the central body of the house built, together with the Terrace of the Liberal Arts leading to the chapel; the date work began is unknown, but in 1668, when Cosimo III de' Medici visited Portugal, the complex was already well advanced. Conceived as a summer residence, it was enlarged after the 1755 earthquake and became the main home of the Mascarenhas family, whose descendants still live here. A National Monument, it holds the largest collection of seventeenth-century tiles preserved in the place for which they were made. Highlights of the gardens include the Formal Garden with its five fountains, the Knights' Pool and the Kings' Gallery, the Garden of Venus, the Casa do Fresco and the Nymphaeum, with shell-work and lead sculptures. The gardens may be visited freely, with an optional audio guide, but the interior, with the Battles, Panels, Four Seasons and Juno rooms, the library and the chapel, can only be seen on guided tours at set times. The palace belongs to the Fundação das Casas de Fronteira e Alorna.
Located at: Fundação das Casas de Fronteira e Alorna
Address: Largo de São Domingos de Benfica, 1, 1500-554 Lisboa
Opening hours: Monday to Saturday and public holidays: gardens 10:00-18:00 (last entry 17:30); interior by guided tour only at set times (in English at 10:00, 11:30, 13:00, 14:30 and 16:00; also in Portuguese, French and Spanish) (closed on Sundays, Christmas Day, New Year’s Day and Easter)
Phone: +351 217 782 023
Coordinates: 38.7399505, -9.1802893
Buses: 58B, 716, 746, 754, 758, 768
