Brás de Albuquerque’s house, better known as house of the beaks in Lisbon, is undoubtedly one of the most emblematic and curious buildings in Lisbon, both by name, but above all by its originality, lined with diamond-tipped stone, which created the Myth that in their “nozzles” there would be hidden diamonds, hence the people would break some of these tips in an attempt to find these diamonds …. unsuccessfully of course !!!
Located in Campo das Cebolas, in the center of Lisbon, very close to Terreiro do Paço, it was built in 1523 by D. Brás de Albuquerque governor of the Portuguese state of India, after a trip to Italy where he was impressed as Ferrara Diamond Palace and the Bevilácqua Palace in Bologna. He then decides to build a building inspired by the Italian Renaissance, where the windows and doors, all of different sizes and shapes.
The great earthquake of 1755 did not spare the house of the nozzles, having been quite destroyed, however its original form can be consulted in the Museum of the City, more precisely in the tile panel of Ribeira Velha, acquired by the city in the 60s of the century. Restored the twentieth century and in the 1980s, rebuilds the two floors that had fallen with the earthquake. Inside an important archaeological estate discovered precisely in the restoration works, with four Roman salting tanks, part of the old Moorish Fence, part of a medieval tower and piece of Mudejar pavement.
Nowadays house of beaks in Lisbon hosts the only Portuguese José Saramago Foundation to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature (1998), dying on June 18, 2010, with various publications such as Blindness Essay, adapted for the cinema and released. in 2008, produced in Japan, Brazil, Uruguay and Canada, directed by Fernando Meirelles (director of The Faithful Gardener and City of God).
Open from Monday to Saturday from 10h00 / 18h00 Prices: normal entrance 3 € | Students 2 € | Free for children up to 12 years old
Come meet the house of beaks on our Lisbon Tour
