page_title: Portuguese Architecture
section_title: Baroque period
hierarchical_section_title: Portuguese Architecture / History / Baroque period
caption_attribution_description: English: The Igreja de Santa Engrácia (Church of Santa Engrácia) in Lisbon. Deutsch: Die Igreja de Santa Engrácia (Kirche der heiligen Engrácia) in Lissabon.
context_page_description: Portuguese architecture refers to both the architecture of present-day Portugal's territory in Continental Portugal, the Azores and Madeira, as well as the architectural heritage/patrimony of Portuguese architects and styles throughout the world, particularly in countries formerly part of the Portuguese Empire.
  Like all aspects of Portuguese culture, Portuguese architecture reflects the artistic influences of the various cultures that have either inhabited Portugal or come in contact with the Portuguese people throughout the history of Portugal, including the Lusitanians, Celtiberians, Romans, Suebi, Visigoths, Moors, Mozarabs, Goans, Macanese, Kristang people, and many more. Because of the history of the Portuguese Empire, several countries across the world are home to sizable heritages of Portuguese colonial architecture, notably Brazil and Uruguay in the Americas, Angola, Cabo Verde, São Tomé and Príncipe, Benin, Ghana, Morocco, Guinea Bissau, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique in Africa, and China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Timor Leste in Asia.
context_section_description: Baroque architecture in Portugal enjoys a very special situation and a different timeline from the rest of Europe. It is conditioned by several political, artistic and economic factors, that originate several phases, and different kinds of outside influences, resulting in a unique blend.
  The year 1697 is an important year for Portuguese architecture. In that year gold, gems and later diamonds were found in Minas Gerais, Brazil. Mining exploration was strongly controlled by the Portuguese Crown, which imposed heavy taxes on everything extracted (one fifth of all gold would go to the Crown). These enormous proceeds caused Portugal to prosper and become the richest country of Europe in the 18th century.
  In the reign of King King John V, the baroque underwent a time of splendour and wealth completely new in Portugal. Despite the destruction wreaked by the 1755 earthquake, the quality of the buildings which have survived to our days is still impressive. The Palácio da Ribeira, the Royal Chapel (both destroyed in the earthquake) and the Mafra National Palace, are the main works of the King. The Águas Livres Aqueduct brings water to Lisbon covering a distance of 11.18 miles, with emphasis on the section over the Alcântara valley because of the monumentality of the imposing arches. However, across the country, are still visible marks of the pomp of the time in major or small works. The gilded woodcarving took on national characteristics because of the significance and richness of the decorations. The painting, sculpture, decorative arts and tiling also experienced great development.
  The Mafra National Palace is among the most sumptuous Baroque buildings in Portugal. This monumental palace-monastery-church complex is even larger than the El Escorial, an immense 16th-century Spanish royal palace north of Madrid to emphasize the symbolic affirmation of his power. The king appointed Johann Friedrich Ludwig (known in Portugal as João Frederico Ludovice) as the architect. This German goldsmith (!) had received some experience as an architect, working for the Jesuits in Rome. His design for the palace is a synthesis of St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican, the Jesuit Sant'Ignazio church in Rome and the Palazzo Montecitorio, designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini.
  This design was in line with the king's desire to imitate the Eternal City, and with his ambition to found a "second Rome" at the river Tagus. His envoys in Rome had to provide the king with models and floor plans of many Roman monuments.
  One of these was the Patriarchal palace in Lisbon.  The Piedmontese architect Filippo Juvarra was brought to Lisbon to draw up the plans. But this project was also toned down because Juvarra only stayed for a few months and left – breaking his contract – for London.
  Other important constructions were :
  1729–1748 : the Águas Livres aqueduct in Lisbon (by Manuel da Maia, Antonio Canevari and Custódio Vieira), described by contemporaries as the ‘greatest work since the Romans’. It provided Lisbon with water, but also the many new monumental fountains built by the Hungarian Carlos Mardel
  1728–1732 : the Quinta de S Antão do Tojal (by the Italian architect Antonio Canevari)
  1755 (completed) : the Ópera do Tejo (destroyed later that year) (by Giovanni Carlo Sicinio-Bibiena)
  (completed in 1750) Palace of Necessidades (by Eugénio dos Santos, Custodio Vieira, Manuel da Costa Negreiros and Caetano Tomas de Sousa)
caption: Santa Engrácia National Pantheon, designed by João Antunes in 1681.
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