Palácio Nacional de Mafra, Portugal

The Mafra Palace (Palácio Nacional de Mafra) is one of the most impressive Baroque landmarks in Portugal. It is located 30 km northwest of Lisbon. You can park your car in the free parking lot near the palace. However, the number of spaces is limited. There is another parking lot nearby, but you will have to walk from there.

• The size is astonishing: the palace includes more than 1,200 rooms, 4,000 doors and windows, 156 staircases, and 29 courtyards and gardens. Only a small part is accessible to visitors.

• The building houses one of the most beautiful libraries in Europe, where bats even live to protect the books from insects! I will tell you more about this later.

• In Mafra, unique tower clocks were also created — among the most complex mechanical systems of their time — and they still work today.

Interesting Facts

1. The "Endless Construction" Curse

King João V had no heirs for a long time. In 1711, he vowed to build a modest monastery. He promised God a "humble temple." After construction began in 1717, the queen finally gave birth to the long-awaited son. This was seen as a sign that the palace and temple were truly pleasing to God.

When immense wealth started pouring in from the Portuguese colonies (especially gold from Brazil), the monarch decided to build a grand palace. The scale of construction was multiplied several times. However, due to the king's constant ambitions, the palace was under construction for more than thirty years and cost the country a fortune, which eventually severely impacted Portugal’s economy.

There is a legend that for breaking his vow, the king was cursed: the project would never be fully completed. And indeed, despite the official opening in 1755, some parts of the palace remained unfinished.

2. The Library

In the eastern wing of the palace lies one of the most beautiful libraries in Europe, housing over 36,000 rare books from the 17th–18th centuries. It stretches about 83 meters in length.

Some books are so rare and valuable (such as 15th-century incunabula) that they cannot be touched without special permission. Among them are the first edition of Virgil's Aeneid and banned books that were once listed in the Catholic Church’s Index of Prohibited Books.

Over the centuries, monks expanded and organized the collection and created a catalog for this unique library.

Unfortunately, the library is so valuable that only selected historians can browse the books, and ordinary visitors are allowed only a glimpse from the entrance.

King João V and His "Library of Forbidden Knowledge"

João V was a fan of books and knowledge, especially rare and forbidden ones.
He secretly purchased books that were on the Catholic Church’s Index of Prohibited Books (including works on science, philosophy, and alchemy). To bypass the restrictions, the king obtained a special papal license allowing him to read any books for "personal theological study."
It is said that some of these "forbidden books" are still kept in restricted sections of the Mafra library and are not accessible to the public. Only selected monks with special access were allowed in.

João V was so wealthy and influential that he imported special powders and elixirs from India, which he believed would prolong his life. These preparations were stored in the monastery’s pharmacy (Botica) at Mafra. Some contained very strange ingredients: pearl dust, crushed coral, gold powder, and even lizard extract!
The king died at 58, partially paralyzed — so the "magical elixirs" probably didn’t help much…

Bats in the Library

It sounds like a joke, but it's true: colonies of bats (Eptesicus serotinus) live in the library, having been "invited" specifically to protect the books. These bats have lived there for more than two centuries!

Not only are they not driven away, but they are carefully protected: every evening, librarians place special leather covers over tables and shelves to protect the furniture from bat droppings.

Locals joke that the bats are secret guardians of knowledge, appointed by the king himself. At night, they eat insects that could damage the ancient folios.

The Ghost Monk in the Library

Like any ancient palace, Mafra has its own ghost stories. Locals tell of ghost monks who can be seen in the long empty corridors, especially at night.

Some claim that you can feel a strange presence in the library — perhaps the spirits of those who once guarded the rare books.

According to an old legend, the ghost of a monk sometimes appears in the palace library. In the 18th century, one monk was so zealously protective of the books from thieves and careless students that he never abandoned his post even after death.

Some staff say that in the silence of the library, you can hear soft footsteps and the rustling of robes, even when no one is around.

3. The Secret Life of Royal Servants

The palace had a complex network of hidden corridors and narrow staircases so that servants could move around unseen and not disturb the nobles. They lived in separate wings and often never saw their masters.

Some historians believe that thanks to this "invisibility," palace life appeared staged and "perfect," while real domestic matters were handled behind the scenes.

It is said that there are many secret passages between rooms, especially between the royal apartments and the monks' cells. These passages allowed monks to move unseen and gave the king a quick escape route in case of danger.

Old plans mention underground tunnels that supposedly connected the palace to the outside world, enabling the king to escape during a war. Some tunnels have not been fully explored even today.

4.The Longest Gallery in Europe

Mafra houses one of the longest palace corridors in Europe — it stretches over 232 meters!

It is called the "Corridor of the Patriarchs," and when walking through it, you feel like it never ends.

In ancient times, it was believed to have been built so long on purpose — to emphasize the monarch’s "endless power."

5. Symbols of Power and Secret Masonic Symbols

The architecture of Mafra blends secular and religious symbols. King João V wanted the palace to be both a monastery and a symbol of his absolute power. Thus, for example, royal family crests are placed next to crosses in the basilica’s decor, and statues of saints stand beside paintings celebrating Portugal’s triumphs in the royal chambers.
The palace was designed not only as a religious center but also as a display of the king’s power to Europe. The basilica and palace halls were built in the Italian Baroque style to show that Portugal was a strong Catholic nation.

 Although Portugal in the 18th century was very Catholic, Mafra’s architects secretly included Masonic symbols in the palace design.
On some ceilings, you can find:

• Compass and square (symbols of construction and secret knowledge)
  
  
• The all-seeing eye
  
  
• Tablets with letters possibly referring to Kabbalah
  Debate continues as to whether these elements were a secret tribute to European secret societies or simply a fashionable trend of the time.

6. The Most Expensive Bell Tower in Europe

Mafra Palace is also home to the largest set of bells in the world: 92 bells cast in Belgium especially for the palace.

When the bells arrived in Lisbon, they were so heavy that part of the dock collapsed!

The cost of casting and transporting the bells was astronomical — almost equivalent to the cost of a small war. Because of this, locals nicknamed the palace the "monument to whimsy."

7.Tower Clocks

Some of the oldest functioning mechanical tower clocks in Europe are in Mafra. They still run without any electronic assistance!

Their mechanism is so complex that it took three years of manual work to restore and restart them.

In the End:

Today, the palace is open to visitors (a family ticket for two adults and one child costs 15 euros. It’s best to check current prices on the official website or Google Maps, as they may change. This is one of the cheaper tickets in the Lisbon area).
Well, "open" — everything is fenced off, but you can peek into the open rooms and hallways.

• Lounge Rooms

• Royal Apartments — rooms of the king and queen with luxurious 18th–19th-century furniture.

• Throne Room (Sala do Trono) — a grand ceremonial hall where the monarch received official delegations.

• Hunting Rooms — the palace was used as a hunting residence, and its interiors feature many trophies and hunting scenes. Honestly, these rooms felt creepy to me — lots of deer antlers, wild animal heads, and furniture made from hides and horns.

• Basilica — you can see a church with marble floors and exquisite altars. It was closed during our visit, but I am sure it opens in the summer tourist season.

• Library — one of the palace's main treasures, though tourists are only allowed to look inside from the entrance. On the ground floor, all the books are hidden behind glass, but it looks very impressive.
• Pharmacy Room (Botica) — the monastery’s pharmacy where medicines were prepared. Not sure we saw it — we only saw the kitchen.
  Monks' Cells — simple rooms where Franciscan monks lived. The interiors were more or less the same — a bed, a table with a book stand and shelf, a chair, and a fire striker.

• Hospital — small wards where the sick were housed. There’s also a statue of a monk facing away from the entrance, which felt quite eerie — it looked too realistic.

• Painted Ceilings — in some rooms, restoration work uncovered stunning ceiling paintings hidden under layers of dirt and dust. They are truly impressive. Some have been partially restored, so don’t forget to look up when you visit.

Also nearby is the Royal Hunting Park (Tapada Nacional de Mafra). You can reach the entrance in 5–7 minutes, but note that after 3 PM tickets are no longer sold, as the park closes at 5 PM.
The grounds are vast — a forest where nobles once hunted. During the day, a tourist bus circulates if you don't want to walk. They say you can spot wild animals there. We arrived late and couldn't see them ourselves.
Admission to the park is more expensive than to the palace, so check the prices online or on Google Maps beforehand.