Mafra - Palácio Nacional de Mafra

The basilica is in the middle of the main front of the Palace Monastery of Mafra, which is precisely articulated and almost without decoration and was later used as a model for the building of the Basilica da Estrela. It is flanked by twin towers 68m/223ft high which are smoothly integrated into the front of the palace. The carillon of 114 bells was made by an Antwerp bell founder named Lavache. Through the vestibule of the church, with 14 statues of saints in Carrara marble by the Italian sculptor Alexandre Giusti, lies the aisleless exterior faced with limestone. The ground plan of the church is in the shape of a Roman cross. It is 58.5m/192ft long and 43m/141ft wide at the crossing. It took two years to construct the crossing dome (65m/213ft high, 13m/43ft across) and its 2m/6.5ft side lantern. The interior has a coffered barrel vaulted ceiling and 62 fluted pillars. Various types of marble pink, white, black, gray, blue and yellow were combined in a geometric pattern. The influences of German Baroque and Italian Classicism are evident; the architect Johann Friedrich Ludwig is thought to have derived inspiration from St Peter's Church in the Vatican and the Jesus Church in Rome. Also striking are the six organs constructed for Joao V between 1792 and 1807 in accordance with plans drawn up by the organ builders Joaquim António Peres Fontanes and António Xavier Machado.

The church has eleven chapels. Until well into the 18th century oil paintings by Portuguese and Italian masters hung here. However, they were damaged by the high humidity to the extent that they had to be replaced by the bas reliefs in Carrara marble that we see today. The altar pieces in the large chapels in the crossing are the combined work of Alexandre Giusti and his famous pupil Machado de Castro. The marble statues in the side chapels are of various saints; they were completed in Italy and then brought to Mafra. Together with the statues on the exterior facade and in the vestibule they represent the most important collection of works by Italian sculptors to be found anywhere in Portugal.

Of particular interest is the Library, 88m/290ft incunabula and manuscripts, first editions of Camoes' "Lusiads", and the plays of Gil Vicente, a trilingual Bible of 1514 and the earliest edition of Homer in Greek.

Guided tours of the palace also take in the pharmacy, the infirmary, with the original 18th C. fittings, the kitchen, faced with blue azulejos, the oval chapterhouse, some of the communal rooms and the monks' cells.

In the left hand corner pavilion on the main front of the Royal Palace is the Museum of Comparative Sculpture, with casts of famous works by Portuguese, Italian and French sculptors of the 12th to 16th C.

To the rear of the palace extends the Tapada de Mafra, the royal deer park enclosed by a wall 20km/12.5mi long, in which the royal family still hunted at the beginning of the 20th C.

A variety of species of Deer can be found at the Tapada de Mafra.