Malveiro Market derives from the annual fair instituted in the end of the 18th century, where people could buy and exchange bovine cattle, mainly from Lisbon's customers. Because of the huge popularity of this market - which used to take place in March - it was decided that its periodicity should be weekly, and with the appearance of the railway, which developed Malveira in a fast way, this weekly fair started to be visited by dealers from all over the country.
Today it is very popular in the region and many types of products are sold here: tools, footwear, furniture, beards or even antiquities, cattle, straw, bread, ceramics, vegetables, flowers, farm equipment, grains, pieces of furniture, fish, cheese...
After a walk through this market you can go to Mafra.
The town is the municipality centre and it is dominated by the Mafra National Palace.
The dimensions of this monumental Baroque and Italianized Neoclassical palace-monastery are so huge that it dwarfs the city. The palace-monastery is said to be Portugal's attempt to rival the Spanish palace at Escorial outside Madrid.
The palace was built during the reign of King John V (1707-1750), in consequence of a vow made by the king in 1711, who promised to build a convent if his wife, the Queen Mary Anne of Austria, gave him descendants. After the birth of his first child, the princess Barbara of Braganza, the king initiated the construction in 1717. The chosen architect was Ludovice, a German of italian origin.
This vast complex is composed of 3 parts: the convent (was to be for 13 monks but was then increased to host 300 monks), the royal palace and the basilica. The palace was built symmetrically from a central axis, occupied by the basilica, and continues lengthwise through the main façade until two major towers. The structures of the convent are located behind the main façade. The convent also includes a major library, with about 40,000 rare books. The palace reached the climax of its splendour at the beginning of the 19th century with Jean VI. But he left for Brazil in 1807, taking with him the objects and pieces of furniture which decorated Mafra.
Approximately 50 000 workmen worked during 13 years to finish this building.
The materials came from Portugal, Brazil, Italy, the Netherlands and Belgium.
The basilica is entirely covered with marble in several colors from the Pêro Pinheiro quarries (beside Sintra). The statues on the front and in the side chapels, as well as the chapel's retable, are in Italian marble. In the church, dedicated to the Virgin Mary and to S. Antonio, there are 6 historical pipe organs going back to 1807 and in the towers there are 2 chimes inaugurated in 1730, composed of 92 bells. Every Sunday at 16:00 there is a chime concert.
In the course of the visit you can see the monks' clinic, pharmacy, a kitchen, some cells, the museum of sacred art, and several rooms of the palace: bedrooms, sitting rooms, the music room, the games room, the hunting room and finally, the Library with its walls covered with wooden shelves.
The Mafra palace was the theatre for several films (Queen Margot, The Count of Monte Cristo, d'Artagnan's daughter, Gulliver's Travels.) as well as written fiction: "the Memorial of the Convent" by José Saramago, who received the 1998 Literature Nobel Prize.
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Mafra Palace Hunting Hall |
Jardim do Cerco |
NB:
The Palace of Mafra is open every day from 10:00 to17:00 with the exception of Tuesday. It is also closed on Easter Day, Christmas, January 1st and May 1st.
When leaving this building, you will be able to see on the right the Jardim do Cerco, a baroque garden of 8 hectares going back to 1718, it has lakes, statues and beautiful pleasant alleys.
While you are in Mafra you might go and see Saint Andrew's Church, it is in Gothic style and situated in the oldest part of the city. The legend says that Pedro Hispano, the future Pope Jean XXI was a priest there.
You can have lunch in Mafra before proceeding to Tapada.
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