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The Casa de Mateus was built in the first half of the 18th century by the 3rd Morgado de Mateus, António José Botelho Mourão. The house was always managed by the Sousa Botelho family. The design of this palace was presumably designed by the architect Nicolau Nasoni. The Palace consists of the Main House, the gardens, the Cellar and a Chapel.

Inside the House there is a library with 6000 volumes, highlighting the famous illustrated edition of the Lusíadas de Luís de Camões of 1816 and in the remaining divisions of the house, you can see numerous pieces of furniture, carpets, crockery, robes and relics .

The traces of baroque architecture, in the application of the decorative pinnacles on the roofs, and the balance of the decoration of the different facades of the House, without overburden of ornaments, which characterizes the, is attributed to the Italian architect Nicolau Nasoni. This house replaced an old building already existing in this same place from the century. XVII. Handwritten sources allow us to state that in 1577 there were already family members to reside in this space.

The Casa de Mateus building is considered one of the most representative monuments of the Baroque in the North of Portugal and one of the most characteristic of Europe, having been classified as a national monument in 1910.



In the manner of the typical weapons rooms of the noble houses of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, it displays, on the brown wooden ceiling, the arms of the builder of the House, António José Botelho Mourão - Botelho, Mourão, Vasconcelos and Aguiar -, the same ones located at the top of the center of the House façade.



Francisco de Albuquerque, based on an original sconce with the Sousas' weapons, ordered the other three whose coats of arms represent the Botelho, Melo and Albuquerque branches, as well as the benches that flank the room, designed by Paulo Bensliman.



Schedule:

- from 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.

- The House of Mateus closes to the public on December 25th.

Visiting methods:

Option 1 - Guided visit to the interior of the House, Chapel and free visit to the Gardens;

Average length of visit to the interior of the House and Chapel: 40 minutes.

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