The Palace Hotel of Bussaco , is a luxury hotel located in the mountain range of Serra do Bussaco, in the municipality of Mealhada

Mealhada

Mealhada Municipality is located in Aveiro District in Portugal. It has a total area of 110.7 km² and a total population of 21,282 inhabitants, and 17,043 electors . The city of Mealhada itself has a population of 5.000....

, in central Portugal

Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

.

History

The area around the Buçaco Palace was part of a Discalced Carmelite

Discalced Carmelites

The Discalced Carmelites, or Barefoot Carmelites, is a Catholic mendicant order with roots in the eremitic tradition of the Desert Fathers and Mothers...

 convent established in 1628. The monks not only built a convent but also created a luxurious garden with many species of trees. The garden was supposed to represent Mount Carmel

Mount Carmel

Mount Carmel ; , Kármēlos; , Kurmul or جبل مار إلياس Jabal Mar Elyas 'Mount Saint Elias') is a coastal mountain range in northern Israel stretching from the Mediterranean Sea towards the southeast. Archaeologists have discovered ancient wine and oil presses at various locations on Mt. Carmel...

 (where the order was founded) and the Earthly Paradise. Date from the late 17th century a series of chapels with representations of a Via Crucis in the garden. Part of the convent, including the church with Baroque

Baroque

The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...

 altarpieces, is still preserved beside the palace. At the entrance of the old convent, there is a plaque to the Battle of Bussaco which commemorates the fact that Viscount Wellington, who later became the Duke of Wellington

Duke of Wellington

The Dukedom of Wellington, derived from Wellington in Somerset, is a hereditary title in the senior rank of the Peerage of the United Kingdom. The first holder of the title was Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington , the noted Irish-born career British Army officer and statesman, and...

, spent the night in the convent after the battle on 27 September 1810.

The Carmelites left Buçaco in the mid-19th century, as the religious orders were dissolved in Portugal. Late in the century there were plans to turn the ancient convent into a royal residence for Queen Maria Pia

Maria Pia of Savoy

Maria Pia of Savoy was a Portuguese Queen consort, spouse of King Luís I of Portugal. On the day of her baptism, Pope Pius IX, her godfather, gave her a Golden Rose. Maria Pia was married to Luís on the 6 October 1862 in Lisbon...

, wife of King Luís I

Luís I of Portugal

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. However, difficult political circumstances soon led to the decision to turn the palace into a hotel.

The Palace Hotel of Bussaco was built between 1888 and 1907. The first architect was the Italian

Italian people

The Italian people are an ethnic group that share a common Italian culture, ancestry and speak the Italian language as a mother tongue. Within Italy, Italians are defined by citizenship, regardless of ancestry or country of residence , and are distinguished from people...

 Luigi Manini

Luigi Manini

Luigi Manini, Count of Fagagna was a European set designer and architect. He was born in Crema, Italy, and studied at the Brera Academy before becoming an assistant to Carlo Ferrario, the professor of stage design at La Scala...

, who designed a Romantic palace in Neo-Manueline

Neo-Manueline

Neo-Manueline was a revival architecture and decorative arts style developed in Portugal between the middle of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century...

 style, evoking the 16th-century architectural style that characterised the peak of the Portuguese Age of Discovery

Age of Discovery

The Age of Discovery, also known as the Age of Exploration and the Great Navigations , was a period in history starting in the early 15th century and continuing into the early 17th century during which Europeans engaged in intensive exploration of the world, establishing direct contacts with...

. The Bussaco Palace is inspired in iconic Manueline

Manueline

The Manueline, or Portuguese late Gothic, is the sumptuous, composite Portuguese style of architectural ornamentation of the first decades of the 16th century, incorporating maritime elements and representations of the discoveries brought from the voyages of Vasco da Gama and Pedro Álvares Cabral...

 buildings like the Jerónimos Monastery

Jerónimos Monastery

The Hieronymites Monastery is located near the shore of the parish of Belém, in the municipality of Lisbon, Portugal...

 and the Belém Tower

Belém Tower

Belém Tower or the Tower of St Vincent is a fortified tower located in the civil parish of Santa Maria de Belém in the municipality of Lisbon, Portugal...

, both located in Lisbon

Lisbon

Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...

.

Manini was succeeded by Nicola Bigaglia, José Alexandre Soares and Manuel Joaquim Norte Júnior, the latter responsible for the annex Casa dos Brasões (House of the Coat-of-Arms). The inner rooms are richly decorated with Neo-Manueline portals and stucco work imitating Manueline rib vault

Rib vault

The intersection of two or three barrel vaults produces a rib vault or ribbed vault when they are edged with an armature of piped masonry often carved in decorative patterns; compare groin vault, an older form of vault construction...

ing, being also an important showcase of Portuguese painting and sculpture of the early 20th century. The inner walls are also decorated with tile

Tile

A tile is a manufactured piece of hard-wearing material such as ceramic, stone, metal, or even glass. Tiles are generally used for covering roofs, floors, walls, showers, or other objects such as tabletops...

 (azulejo

Azulejo

Azulejo from the Arabic word Zellige زليج is a form of Portuguese or Spanish painted, tin-glazed, ceramic tilework. They have become a typical aspect of Portuguese culture, having been produced without interruption for five centuries...

) panels by Jorge Colaço

Jorge Colaço

Jorge Colaço was a Portuguese painter specially known for his works as tile painter.Jorge Colaço was born in Tangier, Morocco, the son of a Portuguese diplomat...

. These panels depict scenes taken from Portuguese literature

Portuguese literature

This is a survey of Portuguese literature.The Portuguese language was developed gradually from the Vulgar language spoken in the countries which formed part of the Roman Empire and, both in morphology and syntax, it represents an organic transformation of Latin without the direct intervention of...

 as well as historical events like the Battle of Bussaco.