Palace of Queluz

Queluz e Belas, Portugal

Open to visitors

The interior is normally open, possibly ticketed.

Strollie cannot guarantee access — always check before you travel.

Find out more

OfficialOfficial website↗

The Palace of Queluz, located in Queluz near Lisbon on Portugal's Riviera, is one of the last great Rococo buildings designed in eighteenth-century Europe. Conceived as a summer retreat for Peter of Braganza, brother of King Joseph I, the palace was begun in 1747 under the direction of Portuguese architect Mateus Vicente de Oliveira. Though considerably smaller than its French namesake, it earned the epithet "Portuguese Versailles." The palace witnessed dramatic shifts in purpose: after the destruction of the Palace of Ajuda by fire in 1794, it became the official residence of Prince Regent John and his family until the royal family's flight to Brazil in 1807 during the French invasion. It later served as a place of confinement for Queen Maria I following her mental decline after King Peter III's death in 1786. Following a destructive fire in 1934 that consumed one-third of its interior, the palace underwent extensive restoration and now operates as a public museum and tourist attraction. One wing, the Queen Maria I Pavilion, functions as Portugal's official state guest house.