At this event we'll get to know the Palace of Quinta Municipal do Sobralinho from the inside. We'll have the opportunity to learn about the history of the palace, the interiors, the cloister and its various rooms, with particular interest in António Salazar's secret room. There will also be time to explore the outdoor areas such as the lakes, the nora and the vegetable garden of this emblematic and pleasant space in the municipality of Vila Franca de Xira. Another event not to be missed!

Sobralinho Palace

The Sobralinho Palace is part of a park made up of gardens, a vegetable garden and woodland, in an organisational model that is characteristic of the quintas that sprang up around Lisbon. Particularly from the 17th century onwards, the Vila Franca region attracted the establishment of a large number of estates owned by the nobility, who used these estates as a supply centre and a place to cool off in the summer, away from Lisbon.

It is in this context that the Paço do Sobralinho was founded in the 17th century. The old manor house of Sobralinho belonged to the Manuel Counts of Vila Flor from 1661, the first owner being the 1st Count, D. Sancho Manuel de Vilhena (?-1677), a member of the Court who played an important military role in the Restoration War.

Quinta do Sobral de Alverca became the country residence of the Counts of Vila Flor, the Lisbon residence being the Palace of S. João da Praça. The property was inherited in succession by the Counts of Vila Flor until the 7th Count of Vila Flor and 1st Duke of Terceira, António José de Meneses de Noronha (1792-1860), who had the house restored. It was with the Duke of Terceira, a figure very close to the royal family, that Sobralinho became a meeting place for the best aristocracy of the time, several times with the presence of the royal family, especially at the time of the St John the Baptist festivities in Alhandra, where Queen Maria II was a judge from 1840 to 1842. Pedro V also visited Sobralinho three times, staying at the palace when he came to hunt in the lezírias, accompanied by Queen Estefânia. The Duke of Terceira died in 1860. Until 1918, there were no precise indications as to who had owned it. In 1918, the Sobralinho palace belonged to the Counts of Sagres, and it is from this year that we have the first iconographic record of this property, of the exterior and interior, in the magazine Ilustração Portugueza.

The entire property was then bought by Ricardo Espírito Santo Silva (1900-1955), a well-known banker, businessman, man of culture and patron. His death in 1955 meant that the property was inherited by one of his daughters and son-in-law, Rita Espírito Santo and Rodrigo Leite de Faria, who began major reconstruction work, which lasted until 1963. The restoration work was carried out by architect Luís Possolo.

The fact that the palace had passed through the Espírito Santo family clearly marked the taste and artistic sensibility that was followed in the new decoration: a preference for ancient art, especially 18th century French art. The guideline was clearly to try to recreate an 18th century palace, in a realisation where traditional schemes were followed with monumentality and a strong attachment to the "Portuguese House".

Anyone arriving at the library of the Quinta Municipal do Sobralinho palace, in the municipality of Vila Franca de Xira, with its red-tiled walls, would never guess that to the right of the fireplace, behind a bookcase, is the entrance to a hiding place that was once Salazar's secret room. The bookcase turns on itself and opens doors to a secret universe. The small entrance contrasts with the palace's characteristic large spaces. There is a wine cellar and a beige, cushioned spiral staircase. The thickness of the carpet even muffles the sound of high heels. Upstairs there are 15 square metres of a secret room decorated with colourful wallpaper. The paper has faded in some areas of the wall, denoting the passage of time. There is a bathroom and the only window in the room overlooks the roof of the palace. It's no coincidence. If the room was to be secret, it was important that the special guests didn't attract prying eyes in the village

After the visit, for those interested, there will be a 10-kilometre walk that includes a visit to the Subserra Municipal Farm and some of the Forts of the 1st Defensive Line of Torres Vedras.

- Guided Tour Sobralinho Palace - Walk - Lines of Torres Vedras Forts - Landscape Observatory - Windmills - Natural landscapes -