Location: Mafra, Portugal
Architects: original project by João Frederico Ludovice (1673 – 1752) and later with Carlo Fontana (1634 – 1714); Custodio Vieira (1682 – 1744); Matthew Vicente de Oliveira (1705 – 1786) and finally Manuel Caetano de Sousa (1738 – 1802).
Built: 18th/19th/20th centuries
The Mafra National Palace, also known as the Mafra Convent, is a Portuguese national monument, located in Mafra, Portugal. It consists of a palace, a basilica and a convent, in Baroque style, with Roman and Germanic influences, to which are associated a garden and the Tapada Nacional de Mafra. Around 1,200 rooms, more than 4,700 doors and windows, 156 staircases and 29 courtyards and halls.
It has been classified as a National Monument since 1907 and was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2019, forming part of the cultural site known as the Royal Building of Mafra, comprising the palace, which includes the basilica (with a set of 6 organs and 2 carillons) and the library, a convent and educational establishments, the Jardim do Cerco and the Tapada.
PALACE: a polygonal body formed from a large rectangular module, interrupted in the center by the perpendicular body of the basilica, it develops longitudinally in a north-south direction, topped, at its ends, by two monumental turrets of a quadrangular plan, to which are attached two new parallel rectangular modules, perpendicular to the main one, which develop in a west-east direction.
Main façade, monumental, flat, with four floors, the last one being a mansard, facing west, with a total length of 220 meters, with nine distinct panels.
It presents an axis of symmetry defined by the basilica (description below), which constitutes the central panel, developing from this in a mirror by four identical panels, corresponding to the bodies of the palaces of the king (to the north) and the queen (to the south).
The façade of the basilica is followed, on each side, by three identical panels, the first and third being the same, divided by four rectilinear openings, with a simple stone frame, on each floor, and the central one, centred, on the ground floor, by the prominent body of the portal, flanked by two Doric columns supporting a triangular pediment. The second and third floors are divided by five rectilinear windows with simple frames, the lateral ones, with a curved pediment in the centre of the second floor, and, on the third floor, topped by alternating triangular and curved pediments.
BASILICA: plan in the form of a Latin cross with the arms and apse in a semicircle, consisting of a rectangular galilee with the tops also in a semicircle, a single nave, with six deep, intercommunicating altarpiece side chapels, a projecting transept served by two altarpiece chapels, two rectangular apsidal chapels, also altarpiece, and a deep chancel. It runs from west to east, forming part of the square courtyard that surrounds two secondary bodies, to the north and south.
In its volume, the dome stands out, rising above a drum with eight windows, with profusely worked frames flanked by Corinthian columns, which support the weight of the double dome, in whose panels two overlapping bull’s eyes are torn. The lantern has eight windows flanked by Ionic columns, covered by a bulbous spire, pierced by a small oculus and topped by a sphere and cross.
The main façade is preceded by a staircase with three flights of seven steps each, and features two bell towers framing a central module where, on the first level, the five access spans to the galilee open through a double colonnade, where six Ionic columns create a gallery with three round arches and two spans with straight lintel, flanked by two niches housing monumental statuary: two full-length statues in matte marble, attributed to Giovanni Battista Maini, each measuring 2.810 meters; on the left, Saint Clare, founder of the female congregation of the Order of Saint Francis, here depicted wearing the habit of the order, holding the monstrance, her attribute, with both hands; and, on the right, Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, wearing her habit as a Poor Clare, holding a Crucifix, to whose worship she dedicated her life, and stepping on the crown, the symbol of her abdication.
CONVENT: body attached to the palace, to the east, formed from four rectangular modules, with five floors, the last one in a mansard, organized around a large central cloister. The main façade faces east and has eleven panels defined by an axis of symmetry marked by the prominent module of the portico, which is articulated at an angle with the rest of the façade. This, hollowed out in a loggia with perfect arches covered in rusticated stone that precedes the main door, is torn, at the level of the second and third floors, by three rectilinear windows with straight lintel frames, at the front, and one on each side wall. The fourth floor has balcony windows, protected by a stone balustrade, a frame topped by a depressed arch on the sides and a raised triangular pediment in the center.
The fifth floor has quadrangular windows with straight lintel frames (the same on the entire façade), with the mansard roof being torn by an oculus. The remaining façade is symmetrical, with the outermost panels (first and eleventh) having a straight window with a simple stone frame on each floor, the second, fourth, eighth and tenth panels, having a straight lintel door on the first floor, topped by bay windows on the second and third floors (the second floor has a frame in a depressed arch), with a sill topped by a triangular pediment on the fourth floor, the third, fifth, seventh and ninth panels, the longest, have the first two floors having six straight windows with sills with a simple frame, the third floor being marked by the same number of windows with a frame topped by a triangular pediment.
The side façades, which are identical to each other, have four sections, each with four floors, separated by stone cornices and punctuated by rectilinear windows with sills and simple stone frames on the first three floors, while the fourth floor has composite molding. The two façades are finished with a projecting cornice and a parapet with a balustrade, gargoyles and decorated acroteria.
