Given that the Basilica and the Library will be temporarily inaccessible, the general visit tickets to the palace will be half the price, the Portugal Museums and Monuments (MMP) announced.
“The reopening of the palace library is scheduled for the end of the year,” says that Ministry of Culture organism in his ‘site’, adding that during this period general visit tickets to the monument will have the price reduced by half.
“Given the reduction of the visit circuit – with the basilica and the library temporarily inaccessible – the palace general visiting tickets will have their price reduced by 50%”, can be read in the announcement of the MMP.
This closure “is part of a wide effort to provide this icon with the Portuguese and worldwide heritage with better conditions of security, preservation and enjoyment by all visitors.”
In February of this year, the municipality of Mafra began the requalification contracts of the Basilica, library and exterior surrounding the National Palace of Mafra, in an investment of 5.6 million euros, the mayor’s president Hugo Luís told Lusa.
In August, the City Council launched a public tender of 2.8 million euros for conservation and restoration works of the Basilica and Library of the National Monument.
The works, with an execution period of 14 monthswere awarded for 2.7 million.
The endeavors are funded by the Plan of Recovery and Resilience (PRR), which has foreseen a total financing of about 13 million for the monument.
The most important heritage of the National Palace of Mafra is composed by the largest bell set in the world, with two carrillions and 119 bells, shared by the hours of the hours, the liturgy and the carrillions, six historical organs and the library.
The monument will also host the National Music Museum, with one of Europe’s richest collections of musical instruments, with a collection composed of a thousand instruments from the 16th to the twentieth century, of scholarly and popular tradition.
The National Palace of Mafra was classified as a worldwide cultural heritage of the United Nations Education, Science and Culture Organization (UNESCO) in July 2019.
