Palacete de São Bento
The Palacete de São Bento—the Residência Oficial do Primeiro-Ministro—is a 19th-century neoclassical mansion built to house political power as steadily as parliament itself. The house was first constructed in 1877 by Lisbon capitalist Joaquim Machado Cayres as his private residence, on land that had belonged to the adjoining Benedictine Monastery since 1598. In 1928, Portugal’s newly established authoritarian regime expropriated the mansion, converting it into the official residence of the president of the Council of Ministers, the title then used for the prime minister. António de Oliveira Salazar moved in during May 1938; the formal unveiling followed in April 1939. During the works, a monumental staircase was commissioned to architect Cristino da Silva, linking the mansion grounds to the parliament gardens within São Bento Palace. …
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