(So this is what Rococo means…) The National Palace of Queluz was apparently one of the last Great Rococo buildings to be designed in Europe and is often referred to as the Portuguese Versailles.

The Portuguese Royalty story is complicated to say the least, but I’ll attempt (and plan on butchering) a very high-level brushstroke.  This home: The National Palace of Queluz was initially a summer palace for the King, Don Pedro, and his niece/wife (yes, that’s right), Queen Maria.  Maria went crazy after Pedro’s passing and the home was used to keep her subdued… but later, the Portuguese Prince Regent, John VI, turned it into his full-time residence prior to fleeing the country (for Brazil) in the face of the French invasion of Portugal. The throne was later given to his 5 year old grandson to rule Brazil and Portugal to his 13 year old granddaughter since their father didn’t want that much responsibility…

The Palace today is still used to house heads of state visiting Portugal, and remains a school for Portuguese Equestrian Art.  One of the main attractions is the tile work… which was my initial lure.  I went for a 5 mile morning run here with a friend from Remote Year, viewed the grounds, checked out the suburb of Queluz, and took the train back to Lisbon.  A little off the beaten path, but the grounds are worth seeing.