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Historic House • Vila Real, Vila Real

In Vila Real, the Casa de Mateus Foundation shows how a manor house can become a living cultural centre without losing the memory of the family that lived there. Created in 1970 by D. Francisco de Sousa Botelho de Albuquerque, it was born from the donation for public service of the House, Chapel, Winery, gardens, orchards, vineyards, woodland and a vast archive, library and museum collection. The setting helps explain the power of the place: the Baroque house, completed in 1744 and linked to the name of Nicolau Nasoni, is reflected in its famous water mirror and opens onto boxwood gardens, a rose garden and parkland. Inside, the reception rooms, chapel and library extend centuries of domestic and artistic life; among rare books and materials connected with the 1817 edition of The Lusiads, one understands that Mateus preserves not only a palace, but an enduring way of linking heritage, landscape and cultural creation.