Mafra II by bugatti

Photography • Architecture • posted on Jan 31, 2009

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Description

Portugal, Mafra Convent/Palace. Visiting Portugal I had a sense of uneasiness, all those rich churches and convents, built with the gold of the colonies, in such a poor country. And Mafra tops them all, a huge convent/palace, built in the middle of nowhere north of Lisbon, all with italian workers, artists and materials, at the end of the colonial period. Then the flow of riches stopped. The paintings of the royal families of the beginning of the 1800's hung on the walls of the palace are of abysmal quality. Mafra must be the last splurge of a royalty with no connection with the country or people.