Casa dos Bicos & Saramago

Let's pause here at this extraordinary building along the Alfama waterfront, where over 1,000 diamond shaped stones tell a story of Renaissance ambition and literary greatness. Casa dos Bicos, meaning "House of the Spikes," was built around 1523 by Brás de Albuquerque, whose father was Portugal's first governor of India. After traveling through Italy, young Albuquerque fell in love with the Palazzo dei Diamanti in Ferrara and decided to recreate its striking diamond studded façade back home.

He combined Italian Renaissance style with traditional Portuguese Manueline windows, creating something entirely unique. This building survived the catastrophic 1755 earthquake that leveled most of the surrounding area. Over the centuries, it served as a residence, warehouse, and fish market before being abandoned and partially ruined. In 2012, it became home to the José Saramago Foundation. Saramago, who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1998, was Portugal's greatest modern writer, known for challenging readers to question reality through his compassionate, ironic storytelling.

Inside, you'll find his personal library, original manuscripts, and the exhibition "The Seed and the Fruits" documenting his rise from poverty to international acclaim. Outside, beneath an olive tree from his birthplace, his ashes rest in the place he cherished most.