PALÁCIO NACIONAL DE QUELUZ

About ten kilometres west of Lisbon, it is a harmonious and perfect example of rococo architecture. In the 18th century, this hunting lodge was extensively remodelled from 1747 to 1786, and transformed into a summer residence for the royal family. A mixture of baroque and neoclassicism, it nevertheless retains human dimensions. It is a charming pink and gold pastry that symbolizes a little the ultimate brilliance of Portugal's golden age and became a kind of tomb of the royal family during the English "protectorate" at the beginning of the 19th century. The visit of the castle passes through a series of rooms covered with mirrors and dressed in stylish furniture on which hangs the memory of Queen Maria I (1777-1816), promised by Louis XV, and who slowly sank into madness. Pushing back England's advances to make an alliance with France a few years before the Revolution did not leave them unscathed! Not to mention that the refinement that prevailed during the occupation of this palace by Queen Maria I was coupled with intrigues that threatened the Marquis of Pombal in particular, and that Junot settled permanently during the Napoleonic invasion in 1807! You will visit the apartments, the music room (so as not to affect the acoustics, the columns are made of painted wood imitating marble), the Throne Room, the Ambassadors' Room (with large Chinese vase and fresco on the ceiling), the Queen's boudoir and the King's room.

The magnificent French gardens are followed by a romantic park, where shows take place in the summer. Beyond a terrace covered with boxwood and ponds, the gardens gently descend into vast straight alleys whose high boxwood borders delimit small secret gardens. On the right, you will not miss under any circumstances the Moorish garden, full of charm and above all the highlight: a vast canal (115 m long), surmounted by a flower pot and covered with azulejos, on which people used to walk in boats. It's a pity that the means are lacking to restore the gardens to their former splendour, but it's finally even more romantic as well, beware of the spleen rising, on rainy days! After having looked in the air for the memory of the nacelles floating above the Grand Canal and an orchestra of harpists, you can also get lost in the small paths near Belas, a place known for its superb aristocratic properties (often not accessible).