Change of the Guard

Belém, yesterday.

The Belém Palace, or alternately National Palace of Belém, (Portuguese: Palácio Nacional de Belém) has, over time, been the official residence of Portuguese monarchs and, after the installation of the First Republic, the Presidents of the Portuguese Republic. Located in the civil parish of Santa Maria de Belém, the palace is located on a small hill that fronts the Praça Afonso de Albuquerque, near the historical centre of Belém and the Monastery of the Jerónimos, close to the waterfront of the Tagus River. The five buildings that make up the main façade of the Palace date back to the second half of the 17th century, and were built at a time when the monarchy and nobility increasingly desired to seek respite from the urbanized confines of Lisbon.