Ribeira Palace (; ) was the main residence of the

Kings of Portugal This is a list of Portuguese monarchs who ruled from the establishment of the Kingdom of Portugal, in 1139, to the deposition of the Portuguese monarchy and creation of the Portugal, Portuguese Republic with the 5 October 1910 revolution. Thro ...

, 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 ...

, for around 250 years. Its construction was ordered by King

Manuel I of Portugal Manuel I (; 31 May 146913 December 1521), known as the Fortunate (), was King of Portugal from 1495 to 1521. A member of the House of Aviz, Manuel was Duke of Beja and Viseu prior to succeeding his cousin, John II of Portugal, as monarch. Manu ...

when he found the Royal Alcáçova of São Jorge unsuitable. The palace complex underwent numerous reconstructions and reconfigurations from the original

Manueline The Manueline (, ), occasionally known as Portuguese late Gothic, is the sumptuous, composite Portuguese architectural style originating in the 16th century, during the Portuguese Renaissance and Age of Discoveries. Manueline architecture inco ...

design, ending with its final

Mannerist Mannerism is a style in European art that emerged in the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520, spreading by about 1530 and lasting until about the end of the 16th century in Italy, when the Baroque style largely replaced it ...

and

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

form. The Ribeira Palace, as well as most of the city of Lisbon, was destroyed in the 1755 earthquake. After the earthquake, the reigning monarch, King

José I '' Dom'' Joseph I (; 6 June 1714 – 24 February 1777), known as the Reformer (Portuguese: ''o Reformador''), was King of Portugal from 31 July 1750 until his death in 1777. Among other activities, Joseph was devoted to hunting and the opera. H ...

, suffered from

claustrophobia Claustrophobia is a fear of confined spaces. It is triggered by many situations or stimuli, including elevators, especially when crowded to capacity, windowless rooms, and hotel rooms with closed doors and sealed windows. Even bedrooms with a l ...

and chose to live the rest of his life in a group of pavilions in the hills of

Ajuda Ajuda () is a ''freguesia'' (civil parish) and district of Lisbon, the capital of Portugal. Ajuda is located in western Lisbon, northeast of Belém and west of Alcântara. The population in 2011 was 15,617.Praça do Comércio The Praça do Comércio (; ) is a large, harbour-facing plaza in Portugal's capital, Lisbon, and is one of the largest in Portugal, with an area of 175 by 175 m (574 by 574 ft), that is, 30,600 m2 (329,000 ft2). Facing the Tagus () to the South, ...

'', is situated on the site of the former palace. The square is still popularly referred to as the ''Terreiro do Paço ("Palace Yard/Square")'', reminiscent of the now destroyed royal residence.

History

Manueline era

After the

Siege of Lisbon The siege of Lisbon, from 1 July to 25 October 1147, was the military action against the Almoravid dynasty that brought the city of Lisbon under the definitive control of the new Christian power, the Kingdom of Portugal. The siege of Lisbon w ...

, in 1147, the monarchs of Portugal had used the Palace of Alcáçova, in the São Jorge Castle, as their residence while in

, which did not become Portugal's definite capital until 1225. Over the years, various Portuguese monarchs added to the Palace of Alcáçova, and by the time King

succeeded the throne, the Palace of Alcáçova was a large, but cramped, complex, not fitting with the tastes of King Manuel I. With his lucrative profits from Portugal's monopoly on the

spice trade The spice trade involved historical civilizations in Asia, Northeast Africa and Europe. Spices, such as cinnamon, cassia, cardamom, ginger, pepper, nutmeg, star anise, clove, and turmeric, were known and used in antiquity and traded in t ...

, King Manuel I set off on a building spree, renovating the Lisbon landscape, and starting with the construction of a new royal palace. The groundbreaking of the palace was in 1498. The new palace was not to be located on a high and easily protected fortress hill, like the Palace of Alcáçova was, but instead was built on the river shore of the Tagus river, giving it the name of Ribeira Palace, or Palace of the Riverside. The new royal palace was located in the heart of renaissance Lisbon, which had become one of the most important cities and ports in all Europe, on account of its importance in the spice trade and

Age of Discoveries The Age of Discovery (), also known as the Age of Exploration, was part of the early modern period and overlapped with the Age of Sail. It was a period from approximately the 15th to the 17th century, during which seafarers from European ...

. Ribeira palace was situated next to the ''Ribeira das Naus'' shipyard and near all the major Lisbon trading houses. In 1502, the palace had been built large enough so that the Portuguese Royal Court could begin moving into the palace. In 1508, King Manuel I started expansion works on the palace, which ended in 1510, and appointed Diogo de Arruda as head architect of the project. The King was an absolutist in all manners, and sought to concentrate all his powers in Ribeira Palace, by holding the

Portuguese Cortes In the medieval Kingdom of Portugal, the Cortes was an assembly of representatives of the estates of the realm – the nobility, clergy and bourgeoisie. It was called and dismissed by the King of Portugal at will, at a place of his choosing.O' ...

and installing the

Casa da Índia The Casa da Índia (; English language, English: ''India House'' or ''House of India'') was a Portuguese state-run enterprise, state-run commercial organization during the Age of Discovery. It regulated international trade and the Portuguese Emp ...

, the imperial administration, in the palace's walls. The palace of King Manuel I, and his successors until King

Henry I of Portugal Henry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Henry (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters * Henry (surname) * Henry, a stage name of François-Louis Henry (1786–1855), French baritone Arts and entertainmen ...

, was a true palace of the

Portuguese Renaissance The Portuguese Renaissance was the cultural and artistic movement in Portugal during the 15th and 16th centuries. Though the movement coincided with the Spanish Renaissance, Spanish and Italian Renaissance, Italian Renaissances, the Portuguese Ren ...

. Done in the

style, among others, the palace included various wings, loggia, balconies, gardens, and courtyards. The main loggia of the palace, facing the Terreiro do Paço, followed the style employed by King Manuel I at many of his palaces, most notably at the Royal Palace of Évora. The hallmark of the palace, not just in the Manueline era but in all its history, was its ''Tower of the King'', in the southern wing. During the Manueline era, the Casa da Índia was installed in the tower, which hoisted a large sculpture of the Royal Coat of Arms of Portugal on the exterior of the tower, facing the river. Starting in 1525, King John III sponsored a set of enlargements and renovations to the palace, which, most notably, altered the ''Tower of the King'', expanding it and opening a large balcony, faced towards the Tagus. It was during the Manueline era, when the

House of Aviz The House of Aviz (Portuguese language, Portuguese: ''Casa de Avis'' ), also known as the Joanine Dynasty (''Dinastia Joanina''), was a dynasty of Portuguese people, Portuguese origin which flourished during the Portuguese Renaissance, Renaissanc ...

ruled Portugal, that the Portuguese Renaissance truly flourished, and Ribeira Palace was one of its centers. It was a beacon for artists, scientists, navigators, and noblemen from all over Portugal and Europe alike. It was at Ribeira Palace, in 1515, that Gil Vicente, the father of Portuguese and Spanish theatre, first performed his play ''Quem Tem Farelos?'' for King Manuel I. The palace was also where other great Portuguese and European artists and scholars presented themselves, including

Luís de Camões Luís Vaz de Camões (; or 1525 – 10 June 1580), sometimes rendered in English as Camoens or Camoëns ( ), is considered Portugal's and the Portuguese language's greatest poet. His mastery of verse has been compared to that of William Shakes ...

, Portuguese playwright,

Cristóvão de Morais Cristóvão de Morais was a 16th-century Portugal, Portuguese court painter for the kings John III of Portugal and Sebastian of Portugal, Sebastian I of Portugal. He painted numerous portraits for the kings, queens, and princes of Portugal. Lif ...

, Portuguese painter, and

Pedro Nunes Pedro Nunes (; Latin: ''Petrus Nonius''; 1502 – 11 August 1578) was a Portuguese mathematician, cosmographer, and professor, probably from a New Christian (of Jewish origin) family.Leitão, Henrique, "Para uma biografia de Pedro Nunes: O ...

, Portuguese mathematician and royal tutor.

Philippine era

When the

House of Habsburg The House of Habsburg (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful Dynasty, dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout ...

seized the throne, in 1580, the newly acclaimed King Philip I of Portugal started a large series of constructions and renovations throughout Portugal, seeking to rehabilitate the kingdom after the

War of the Portuguese Succession The War of the Portuguese Succession, a result of the extinction of the Portuguese royal line after the Battle of Alcácer Quibir and the ensuing Portuguese succession crisis of 1580, was fought from 1580 to 1583 between the two main claimant ...

. During his three-year stay in Lisbon, from 1580 to 1583, King Philip I, who also ruled as King of Castile, Aragon, and Naples, considered turning Lisbon into the imperial capital of his trans-European monarchy and empire. To better suit Lisbon for King Philip I's extravagant court, the King ordered the remodeling and expansion of Ribeira Palace, under the authority of Filipe Terço, the Master of the Royal Works. King Philip I decided to modernize the palace, stripping it of its early renaissance, Manueline style and planning and converting Ribeira Palace into a monumental, organized

complex. The highlight of the Philippine renovations was the reconstruction and enlargement of the ''Tower of the King'', which transformed a three-story Manueline tower, which housed the

, into a five-story Mannerist tower, complete with an observatory and one of the largest royal libraries in all of Europe.To beautify the palace the monarch commissioned several artists, such as

Correggio Antonio Allegri da Correggio (August 1489 – 5 March 1534), usually known as just Correggio (, also , , ), was an Italian Renaissance painter who was the foremost painter of the Parma school of the High Renaissance, who was responsible for som ...

Rubens Sir Peter Paul Rubens ( ; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish artist and diplomat. He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque tradition. Rubens' highly charged compositions reference erudite aspects of clas ...

and, most famously,

Titian Tiziano Vecellio (; 27 August 1576), Latinized as Titianus, hence known in English as Titian ( ), was an Italian Renaissance painter, the most important artist of Renaissance Venetian painting. He was born in Pieve di Cadore, near Belluno. Ti ...

, who made a massive painting on the ceiling of the Royal Library portraying Philip II holding a

globe A globe is a spherical Earth, spherical Model#Physical model, model of Earth, of some other astronomical object, celestial body, or of the celestial sphere. Globes serve purposes similar to maps, but, unlike maps, they do not distort the surface ...

and being crowned. When King Philip I left Lisbon, in 1583, Ribeira Palace became the official seat of the Council of Portugal and the residence of the Viceroys of Portugal. King Philip I's successors, King Philip II, and King Philip III, did not continue his legacy of stressing the importance of Lisbon, and instead visited their Portuguese capital only on rare ceremonial occasions. However, each time King Philip II and King Philip III visited Ribeira Palace, they ordered the construction of a ceremonial arch for the palace's ''Terreiro do Paço'', culminating in a large series or triumphal and ceremonial arches by the end of the Philippine era.

Brigantine era

Another king to improve the palace was

John V John V may refer to: * Patriarch John V of Alexandria or John the Merciful (died by 620), Patriarch of Alexandria from 606 to 616 * John V of Constantinople, Patriarch from 669 to 675 * Pope John V (685–686), Pope from 685 to his death in 686 ...

, who invested great sums – derived from the gold mines in

colonial Brazil Colonial Brazil (), sometimes referred to as Portuguese America, comprises the period from 1500, with the Discovery of Brazil, arrival of the Portuguese, until 1815, when Brazil was elevated to a United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves ...

– to enlarge and embellish the Ribeira Palace. Deciding against building a new palace in the capital from scratch due to both monetary concerns and outcry from the court, King John V turned his attention to the Ribeira Palace. The original manueline chapel was turned into a magnificent

baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

church, and the palace gained another wing for the queen, parallel to the previous one, commissioned to the Italian Antonio Cannevari. Later in the century, King Joseph I built a Royal Opera House by the palace, designed by the Italian Giuseppe Bibiena. Court function at the Palace of Ribeira in 1748

Court function at the Palace of Ribeira in 1748

The Ópera do Tejo, inaugurated in 1755, lasted only a few months. On 1 November 1755, a huge earthquake, and resulting

tsunami A tsunami ( ; from , ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and underwater explosions (including detonations, ...

and fire destroyed the palace and most of Lisbon. The 70,000-volume royal library housed within the palace, as well as hundreds of works of art, were lost. The royal archives disappeared together with detailed historical records of explorations by Vasco da Gama and other early navigators. King Joseph I was not at the palace and survived. His prime minister, the 1st Marquis of Pombal, coordinated a massive reconstruction effort that would give rise to the Pombaline Downtown of Lisbon. The royal family abandoned the Ribeira area and moved to palaces in the areas of

Ajuda Ajuda () is a ''freguesia'' (civil parish) and district of Lisbon, the capital of Portugal. Ajuda is located in western Lisbon, northeast of Belém and west of Alcântara. The population in 2011 was 15,617.Belém Belém (; Portuguese for Bethlehem; initially called Nossa Senhora de Belém do Grão-Pará, in English Our Lady of Bethlehem of Great Pará), often called Belém of Pará, is the capital and largest city of the state of Pará in the north of B ...

. The old Palace Square (Terreiro do Paço) gave rise to a new square, the Pombaline Commerce Square (Praça do Comércio). The two towers at the corners of the square are still reminiscent of the old tower of the Ribeira Palace. Paco da RIbeira depois da terramota

References

*José-Augusto França. ''Lisboa: Arquitectura e Urbanismo''. Biblioteca Breve. Instituto de Cultura e Língua Portuguesa (ICALP), 1980. (in Portuguese).

Literature

External links

Engraving of the Ribeira Palace after the 1755 earthquake
(archived 2 September 2006)
Engraving of repairs after the 1755 earthquake
(archived 2 September 2006)

(archived 11 March 2007) {{Coord missing, Portugal 1502 establishments in Portugal Houses completed in 1502 1755 disestablishments in Portugal Buildings and structures demolished in 1755 Royal residences in Portugal Former palaces Palaces in Lisbon History of Lisbon Former buildings and structures in Portugal Demolished buildings and structures in Portugal Mannerist architecture in Portugal