The José Saramago Foundation is a
cultural private institution located in the
Casa dos Bicos
The Casa dos Bicos (; "House of the Beaks/Spikes") is a historical house in the civil parish of Santa Maria Maior, in the Portuguese municipality of Lisbon. The house, built in the early 16th century in the Alfama neighbourhood, has a curious f ...
, in
Lisbon
Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...
(
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...
). A smaller branch has been opened in
Azinhaga do Ribatejo, home village of
José Saramago
José de Sousa Saramago (; 16 November 1922 – 18 June 2010) was a Portuguese people, Portuguese writer. He was the recipient of the 1998 Nobel Prize in Literature for his "parables sustained by imagination, compassion and irony ith which ...
, the Portuguese Nobel Prize in Literature 1998. Founded by the José Saramago">writer
A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles, genres and techniques to communicate ideas, to inspire feelings and emotions, or to entertain. Writers may develop different forms of writing such as novels, short sto ...
in June 2007, its main institutional principles are to defend and spread the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the promotion of Portuguese culture, culture in Portugal as well as in all the countries, and particular concerns about environmentalism.
The Casa dos Bicos, being the head office of this institution since June 2012, also offers, along with the permanent exhibition ''The seed and the fruits'', about the life and work of José Saramago, cultural events such as books launching,
lived until his death in 2010, called just ''A Casa'' (The House), is also open to visitors in
).