Paço Reial


At the top of the upper town is the stark, glowing-white, fortress-like former royal palace, now the Pousada de Rainha Santa Isabel. Dom Dinis built the palace in the 13th century for his new wife, Isabel of Aragon. Visitors are welcome to view the public areas of the pousada and climb the keep, which offers a superb panorama of the old town and surrounding plains.

After Isabel of Aragon’s death in 1336 (Dinis had died 11 years earlier), the palace was used as an ammunition dump. An inevitable explosion, in 1698, destroyed most of the palace and the surrounding castle, though in the 18th century João V restored the palace for use as an armoury. The 27m-high keep, the Torre das Três Coroas (Tower of the Three Crowns), survived and is still the dominant feature. It’s so called because it was apparently built by three kings: Sancho II, Afonso III and Dinis.

The holes at the keep’s edges were channels for boiling oil – a good way of getting rid of uninvited guests.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby attractions

1. Museu Municipal

0.07 MILES

This museum is housed in a beautiful 17th-century almshouse near the former palace. Pretty hand-painted furniture sits alongside endearing, locally carved…

3. Lago do Gadanha

0.2 MILES

Near the centre of town stretches this marble-edged water tank, called the Lago do Gadanha after its scythe-wielding statue of Neptune.

4. Café Águias d’Ouro

0.23 MILES

This photogenic cafe – built in art-nouveau style between 1908 and 1909 – is worth seeing for both the exterior and interior (don’t overlook the upstairs…

5. Cavalry Barracks

0.26 MILES

Just north of the square Rossio Marquês de Pombal, you’ll find a few monastic buildings that were converted into cavalry barracks and today house a modest…

6. Castelo

8.3 MILES

The castle dates from 1306, but was rebuilt after the 1531 earthquake. Exterior stone carving shows unwarlike small bows, the symbol of the Bragança…

7. Paço Ducal

10.04 MILES

The dukes of Bragança built their palace in the early 16th century when the fourth duke, Dom Jaime, grew tired of his uncomfortable hilltop castle. The…

8. Terreiro do Paço

10.06 MILES

The 16,000-sq-metre palace square is ringed by the Paço Ducal, an enormous palace, the heavy-fronted Agostinhos Convent and graceful Chagas Nunnery. In…