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GPS 41.29686107603005, -7.712448225272902

The Palácio de Mateus, also called Solar de Mateus and Casa de Mateus, is located in the parish of Mateus, municipality of Vila Real, District of Vila Real.

Casa de Mateus was ordered built in the first half of the 18th century by the 3rd Morgado de Mateus, António José Botelho Mourão. The house has always been 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, which highlights the famous illustrated edition of Lusíadas by Luís de Camões from 1816 and in the other rooms of the house, numerous pieces of furniture, rugs, crockery, clothes and relics can be seen. .

Mateus Palace has been classified as a National Monument since 1910.

History

The Casa de Mateus building was built during the first half of the 18th century by the 3rd Morgado de Mateus, António José Botelho Mourão, with the construction of the chapel being completed by his son D. Luís António de Sousa Botelho Mourão in 1750.

The design of Baroque architecture, in the application of decorative pinnacles on the roofs, and the balance in the decoration of the different facades of the House, without the overload of ornaments that characterizes it, is attributed to the Italian architect Nicolau Nasoni. This house came to replace an old building that already existed in this same place since the 17th century. XVII. Handwritten sources allow us to state that in 1577 there were already family members residing in this space (Cristóvão Álvares and his wife).

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

In April 1961, on the initiative of D. Francisco Albuquerque, 6th Count of Vila Real and father of the current president of the Foundation, Casa de Mateus opened to the public for the first time, presenting an exhibition of its documentary collection, currently deposited in the Casa's Archive . The same 6th Count of Vila Real dedicated himself to the administration of the House and to the cultural promotion of Solar de Mateus, creating the Casa de Mateus Foundation in December 1970.