Mafra Travel Guide

  Mafra Convent and Palaces
by veigapaula
 
  • Mafra Convent and Palaces
      Mafra Convent and Palaces
    by veigapaula
  •   Mafra
    by veigapaula
  • Mafra's Convent Library
      Mafra's Convent Library
    by veigapaula
  •   Mafra
    by J_Antunes
  •   Mafra
    by J_Antunes
 

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Things to Do  

The Monastery

The Monastery, Mafra

 solopes Says:  Immense, rich, millions spent for... what? It is the greatest monument of the Portuguese baroque, and that is useful nowadays, when tourism became an important industry. But when Europe started the Industrial Revolution couldn't king João V find a better way to use the gold... 

Mafra Convent

Mafra Convent, Mafra

 veigapaula Says:  Don't miss it even because it is impossible to arrive Mafra without staring at this... 

The Basilica of Mafra

The Basilica of Mafra, Mafra

 berenices Says:  The Basilica occupies central location in the vast complex of the monastery. The building of this Basilica was in fulfillment of a vow by the King, D. Joao V, if his wife bore him a child. The construction began in 1717 after a daughter was born to the Queen. The palace and... 

Palace

Palace, Mafra

 solopes Says:  It's a long walk, visiting all the palace. The most remarkable thing is that the luxury placed in the building is not followed inside: many large rooms, well decorated, good artworks, but not the richness I expected.Anyway, the contrast with the eastern side, where, for nine... 

Church

Church, Mafra

 solopes Says:  From outside the monastery impresses for its size; from inside it's the richness of the used materials that call our attention. Built in the years when the gold came in tons from Brazil, it is the perfect monument to the useless ways of spending fortunes. 

Only Palace

Only Palace, Mafra

 ElenaKKKK Says:  We got to Mafra from Lisbon - by train to SIntra and after - by bus from Sintra to Mafra and I must say I'd prefer to spend one more day in Lisbon, Sintra or on the oceanside. The travel takes too much time (I'm not sure we chose the best way yo get to), and there is nothing... 

tapada de mafra

tapada de mafra, Mafra

 quartinb Says:

convent

convent, Mafra

 quartinb Says:

Mafra National Palace

Mafra National Palace, Mafra

 bambino36 Says:  The impressive Mafra National Palace was commenced in 1717 in the reign of D. João V. This Baroque Palace when finished was enlarged to include 880 rooms and 330 cells for its monks. It also includes a small hospital and pharmacy, and a prize library. The Palace was... 

Hotels  

Quinta dos Machados

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Restaurants  

A Toca da Raposa: what can i say... great food :)

A Toca da Raposa: what can i say... great food :), Mafra

 PFerreira Says:

Local Customs  

Christmas lights

Christmas lights, Mafra

 solopes Says:  It's becoming a new tradition, the decoration of historic buildings for Christmas. Good taste was present in Mafra, were a well planned illumination enhanced the convent's majesty even under a light foggy rain. 

Off The Beaten Path  

My Statue

My Statue, Mafra

 solopes Says:  I didn't know! I have a statue in Mafra. Close to the monastery, and celebrating its use as Infantry school, it was built a recent statue. I was in Infantry... I was in the school... I fought the war in Africa... look at the guy in the left! Where did they get my picture? 

The statues

The statues, Mafra

 solopes Says:  Mafra is said to have more than 450 statues. I spent there 9 months (yes... living INSIDE the monastery), and never found them! "Smashed" by the immense building, it's easy to miss the details. In a couple of recent visits I remenbered it, and could find two of them. Good!... 

Favorites  

Useful items around the "house"

Useful items around the "house", Mafra

 Martin_S. Says:  Any household, no matter how small or how big, has "things" that they use around the house.Mafra, big as it is, is no exception and here is a small collection of what we found there, from the mobile toilet to the games and musical intruments. 

Statues and Portraits

Statues and Portraits, Mafra

 Martin_S. Says:  Really liked several of the paintings here at Mafra. As a general rule have not liked most of the portraits and scenes found in many homes, castles, palaces and the like, they seem to dark and dreary for the most part.The third photo shows a half circle painting, beautifully... 

Rooms

Rooms, Mafra

 Martin_S. Says:  Numerous rooms in Mafra contain some of the furniture used centuries ago, others have musical instruments, like the harpsicord that you seldom (or never) see today. Even the area dedicated to the "patients recovery" was well decorated and created a small private niche where... 

Halls

Halls, Mafra

 Martin_S. Says:  Many of the "spaces" in Mafra are enormous, some of the halls seem like airplane landing strips, or soccer fields. Some of these spaces are almost impossible to catch on a regular camera, you need a special wide angle lens. The first photo was taken in the MIDDLE of the... 

Ceilings, they are there for a reason

Ceilings, they are there for a reason, Mafra

 Martin_S. Says:  Okay, so simply put the ceiling is there, like the roof, to keep the rain off your head...Here in Mafra they just made sure that the ceiling was MUCH more decorative. Zohara, my wife always laughs at me as I walk around with my eyes toward the ceilings and tend to run into... 

Tools of the trades

Tools of the trades, Mafra

 Martin_S. Says:  These tools of the trades were found in the Mafra kitchen and doctors quarters. 

Library, my total favorite

Library, my total favorite, Mafra

 Martin_S. Says:  Sorry that I was not paying much attention to our guide book here and cannot seperate many of the things that I photographed to a specific location, such as the ceilings or names of halls that you could play soccer in. So where I can, I will label a specific room, but the... 

The Place

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The People

 
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 Mafra was once the capitol city of Portugal and is the summer residence of the royal family. 

 

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Top Mafra Writers

1

Heritage, Nature and Tradition

bambino36 profile photo

 Located north of Lisboa is the small town of Mafra. The most impressive thing to see is obviously the National Palace/Convent of Mafra. The Tapada Nacional de Mafra is a rural forest covered estate...... 

2

The town that a monastery built

berenices profile photo

 On any Lisbon travel guide, Mafra is almost always an afterthought. Which, in my opinion, is a literally big oversight. Mafra is close to Sintra, but the popularity of the latter overshadows mention... 

3

Mafra for book lovers

Martin_S. profile photo

 As many of my friends know I love books and when I read of the library at Mafra had 40,000 of them, it became IMMEDIATELY a place that I wanted to visit...that is of course aside from the historical... 

4

Mafra - Portugal

TinKan profile photo

 I've got some interesting experiences in Mafra. I'd love to share with you the 1 tip I've written, the 2 photos uploaded, and 0 travelogues I've created. 

5

Mafra is the city of the Convent...

veigapaula profile photo

 Master piece of Portuguese art. 

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