It is the largest and most sumptuous example of the Baroque in Portugal. Born over a promise of a Portuguese king.
Finally came the most glorious of days. The imperishable date of twenty-two of October of the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and thirty, when King D. John V is forty-nine and sees the consecration of the most marvelous monuments ever rose, in Portugal, still unfinished, it is true, but by the countenance we know the catablind. Thus is how, José Saramago ends the memorial of the convent. But pulling back a little in time. It begins: Once upon a time a king who promised to raise a temple and a sumptuous monastery attached, as a promise to the Lord, high all mite and most serene both in heaven and on earth, in return for an heir. The prediction was fulfilled, but not in the way that the king wanted most, a girl was born, as promised and to avoid the wrath of God, a place once called the site of candles, our lord commanded to build a magnificent artistic monument that would lead to awe the people of this and other lands.
After 281 years, ten months and four days, the convent of Mafra is a colossal project, which includes a convent, a palace and a basilica in an estimated area of 40,000 m2. At the entrance, we must recede before the 232 meters high of the façade flanked by two imposing towers. Then we walk the marbled hallway that leads to the palace. The yellow room was the favorite convivial space of the sovereign. One of the other compartments is the room of the trophy with its walls studded rods of deer hunted by the kings in the woods that are part of this monument.
We returned to the hallway, you hear the falling motion of the feet in marble before us stands an imposing gate, opens up loudly, we are momentarily blinded by the light, suddenly there is a never ending hallway lined with books. Thousands. It is the library of the palace lavishly decorated with baroque motifs, which houses 40, 000 editions, many of them rare. It has no more and no less than 88 meters in length. It is the dream of every scholar and one of the most beautiful in Europe.
The convent was first a monastery to house 330 monks. It has one of the biggest kitchens I've ever seen in my life. Have tables with a capacity to sustain an ox. The fireplace occupies a vast area, since they were made large meals at once and the no less famous convent sweets. Another curiosity is the stream, you read well, this one ends in a small artificial lake, the water comes from the nearby river, the monk's fish was caught directly to the table and it was also use to wash their food. Cells are small compartments lined up next to each other, all identical and scarce in furniture. The cloisters are adorned by beautiful geometric gardens, to think that 52.000 men were needed to build this monument.
Regressámos ao corredor, ouve-se a marcha cadente dos pés no mármore, diante de nós ergue-se imponente um portão, abre-se ruidosamente, somos ofuscados momentaneamente pela luz, de repente aparece um corredor que nunca mais acaba ladeado por livros. Milhares. É a biblioteca do palácio profusamente decorada com motivos barrocos, que alberga 40, 000 edições, sendo muitas delas raras. Tem nada mais e nada menos do que 88 metros de comprimento. É o sonho de qualquer estudioso e uma das mais belas da Europa.
O convento que antes foi mosteiro chegou a albergar 330 frades. Possui uma das maiores cozinhas que já vi na minha vida. Têm mesas com capacidade para sustentar bois inteiros. A lareira ocupa uma vasta área, já que eram confeccionadas grandes refeições ao mesmo tempo e os não menos famosos doces conventuais. Outra curiosidade é o riacho, sim leram bem, passa uma levada que termina num pequeno lago artificial, é água do rio, onde os frades pescavam directamente para a mesa e ao mesmo tempo lavavam os alimentos. As celas são pequenos compartimentos alinhados uns ao lado dos outros, todos idênticos e parcos em mobiliário. Os claustros são adornados por belos jardins geométricos e pensar que foram precisos 52,000 homens para construir este monumento.
