Necessidades Palace

The Necessidades Palace is a historic building in the Largo do Rilvas, a public square in Lisbon, Portugal. It serves as headquarters of the Portuguese Foreign Ministry.HistoryFormerly a convent belonging to the Congregation of the Oratory, it was built in the 18th century, by order of King John V, in gratitude for prayers answered by Our Lady of Needs, whose first devotional chapel stood on this site.The palace became the residence of the kings of the Braganza dynasty, beginning in the reign of Maria II, and all subsequent monarchs lived there, except for her son, Luís I, who preferred to use the Palace of Ajuda. Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, husband of Maria II, lived in this palace until his death, amassing a large collection of art, which would be dispersed after his death. The palace then underwent several renovations to accommodate the taste of the various monarchs who lived there, the most recent of which was carried out at the beginning of the twentieth century by Carlos I. He enlarged the state dining room because of the frequency of diplomatic activity undertaken there.The palace was the scene of memorable events in Portuguese history, some momentous, some tragic, some slightly ridiculous. One famous example: the king Peter V had installed in the front door of the palace a slot through which his subjects could, if they wished to, leave messages and complaints for the attention of the sovereign. The last significant event at the palace, which would also be the epilogue of the monarchy, was the joint funeral of King Carlos and his son, Prince Luís Filipe, on 8 February 1908, after their assassination by radical republicans.