the facade that survived the earthquake
You'll be walking through Campo das Cebolas, between Terreiro do Paço and the castle hill, and the facade catches you from the side: entire walls covered in stone pyramids, arranged in geometric rows from floor to top. There's nothing else like it in Lisboa, and the visual effect in sunlight is what makes the building immediately recognisable even to someone who knows nothing about its history. The bicos are literally points: faceted limestone pieces covering the lower part of the facade.
The house was built in 1523 on the orders of D. Brás de Albuquerque, illegitimate son of Afonso de Albuquerque (the second governor of Portuguese India). It's one of the few 16th-century manor houses still standing in Lisboa, and the facade design is the Portuguese take on an Italian Renaissance fashion (palaces with diamond-studded facades, like the Palazzo dei Diamanti in Ferrara). The context explains it: this was the age of trade with Italy, of cross-cultural influences, and the house of a son of Albuquerque could afford the gesture.
The 1755 earthquake destroyed the upper floors. The subsequent reconstruction reduced the building, and it wasn't until the 1980s that it was restored for public use in an approximation of the original (with the upper floors still in simplified form). Inside today is the Fundação José Saramago, with a permanent exhibition dedicated to the writer (manuscripts, personal objects, library), and a section of the Museu de Lisboa on the ground floor, with archaeological remains of the Roman and medieval wall that runs underneath.
The visit isn't long: an hour and a half covers the foundation and the archaeological remains. The Saramago programme is the most substantial, with original material from the author and carefully framed literary context. Outside the building, the olive tree planted in the square in front marks the spot where the writer's ashes were deposited in 2011.
what you'll find
- facade of faceted limestone points, a unique piece in Lisboa
- built in 1523 on commission from D. Brás de Albuquerque
- Fundação José Saramago on the upper floor, with manuscripts and personal library
- a section of the Museu de Lisboa on the ground floor, with remains of the old city wall
- olive tree in the square in front, where the writer's ashes were deposited
