The Palácio de Sao Bento, a sweeping white building complex above the Largo de Sao Bento, is the seat of the Portuguese parliament; the alternative names for the palace, Palácio da Assembleia Nacional or Palácio da República, reflect this function. The official residence of the prime minister is also located in the complex.
The position of the parliament buildings is curious: the forecourt, the somewhat lower lying Largo de Sao Bento, is, in contrast to the palace itself, hardly prestigious.
The elevated position of the spacious building and the almost over sized flight of steps linking it to the small square below make it appear over imposing and almost isolated. The houses in the nearest residential area seem minute by comparison.
The Palácio de Sao Bento originated in a former Benedictine monastery, which was built in 1598 under the direction of the architect Balthasar Alvares.
In 1834, after the Benedictine order had been dissolved, the Sao Bento monastery was converted into parliament buildings. The present Neo-Classical appearance arose after a fire in 1895. The building continued to be reconstructed to the plans of the architect Ventura Terra until the 1940s; little remains of the former monastery.
The interior is prestigious with a white and pink colored marble floor and similarly colored marble pillars. Statues and wall paintings serve as decorative details. It is worth viewing one of the semi circular senate rooms with its Corinthian pillars. Both here and in the chamber there are areas set aside for the public. The seven pillars in the chamber, symbolizing justice, eloquence, law, etc., are impressive. Paintings by Columbano Bordalo Pinheiro hang in the elegant hall in front of the chamber which is called "Passos Perdidos" (Lost Steps). Wall paintings by Domingos Rebelo, which date from 1944, depict scenes from the age of discovery and conquest and can be seen in the Salao Nobre. On the ground floor two bells from the earlier monastery recall the origins of the building.
Until recently the Torre do Tombo national archive was located in parts of the east wing, but is now housed in a new building next to the old university.
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