Embaixada de França

Arguably the most extravagant palace in the capital, boasting a hall with the first porcelain in Europe — check for appointments, pre-register, and bring your ID.

The Santos neighborhood is worth a visit even without the ”Palace of the Saints”: our current favorite Lisbon hotel is located here, you can have a trendy breakfast, and until early morning, you can enjoy super cheap self-baked Pão com Chouriço at A Merendeira. The surrounding club culture doesn’t really convince us, though.

If you want to visit the French Embassy, you should book the somewhat weekly guided tour online as early as possible, alternating between Portuguese or French. It’s not a big deal if you don’t understand much; it’s more about the visual experience.

Based on a martyr legend, a chapel was initially built, followed by a monastery. The new tenant, Fernão Lourenço from the Curiel family, moved in with the expulsion of Jews from Spain in 1492 — local ”Mini-Medici,” active investors in overseas expansion, and later influential Sephardim in Hamburg-Altona. King Manuel was supposed to live in Santos temporarily until the completion of the city palace, and his great-grandson Sebastian was to grow up here.

The opulent expansion we see today is credited to the Lancastres, who bought the palace from the Order of Santiago (themselves) in 1629 and commissioned the baroque star architect João Antunes for the enhancement — also with the construction of the adjacent church. The building remained in the possession of the family branch unaffected by the Távora Affair. In 1841, Amélie von Leuchtenberg appears as a tenant, Empress of Brazil, and with her daughter, a passenger on the Fernando e Glória. In 1870, Count Armand took over, whom we know from the Pálacio da Comenda. In 1909, the French state bought the property and has operated the embassy for its 15,000 compatriots in Portugal ever since.