São Bento Palace

The Palácio de São Bento is the home of the Assembly of the Republic, the Portuguese parliament. It is located in Lisbon. Close to Bairro Alto, the Palace of São Bento has historically been the seat of the former Portuguese parliaments, such the National Assembly during the Estado Novo regime, the Congress of the Republic during the First Republic, and the Cortes during the Constitutional Monarchy. Nearby is the official residence of Portugal’s Prime Minister.HistoryThe Palace has its origin in the first Benedictine monastery of Lisbon, established in 1598. In 1615, the monks settled in the area of the Casa da Saúde (Health House), that housed people sick with the plague. The new monastery was built during the 17th century following a Mannerist project by Jesuit architect Baltazar Álvares, later followed by João Turriano. The large building, of rectangular shape, had a church flanked by two towers, four cloisters, dormitories, kitchen, etc. When the construction works of the new building were almost finished, the destructive 1755 Lisbon earthquake damaged it.After the Liberal Revolution (1820) and the suppression of religious orders in Portugal (1834), the monks were expelled from the monastery and the Portuguese Parliament was installed in the building, then called Palácio das Cortes or Parlamento. From then on, the old monastery was systematically adapted to its new functions. The first architect in charge was Possidónio da Silva, who designed the first session rooms.