Biblioteca Palácio Galveias

There might be less opulent city libraries.

Between the bullring and the savings bank headquarters, there once stood a country house, which later became the main residence of the Távoras, confiscated by the state in a dubious trial in 1759. Today, it is the largest public library in Lisbon, complete with coworking spaces, yet still retaining its 17th-century structure. Fully preserved, it is a prime example of royal Portuguese Baroque architecture. Definitely worth a free visit if you’re in the Avenidas Novas area.

In 1801, the palace outside the city gates was acquired by João de Almeida de Melo e Castro, the namesake Count of Galveias. Following family tradition, he was first Minister of Foreign Affairs and War, and later, as the ”chief officer of the royal household,” he acted as a deputy in the homeland for the royal family, who fled to Brazil in 1807 to escape Napoleon.

The city of Lisbon took over the palace in 1929 and established a public library there. Nobel Prize-winning author José Saramago claimed that he truly learned to read in this library — the main hall is named after him. Today, students develop startups in a living room of the old aristocracy, making it an exciting and meaningful reuse of countless former palaces for which there is little other use.