Real Barraca Fire

The hills of Ajuda witnessed flames consuming what was meant to be temporary. After the catastrophic 1755 earthquake shattered the Royal Ribeira Palace, King Joseph I developed such intense fear of stone buildings that he refused to live indoors. His solution was extraordinary: a vast wooden palace called the Real Barraca, built on higher ground where tremors felt less threatening.

This timber residence, completed in 1761, became home to Portuguese royalty for nearly forty years. Rooms sprawled across the hillside, connected by wooden corridors, housing the entire court. The king felt safer in wood, believing it would flex during earthquakes rather than collapse like stone. But on a November night in 1794, under Queen Maria I's reign, fire broke out.

What seemed safer against earthquakes proved defenseless against flames. Despite desperate rescue attempts, the blaze devoured the palace. Only the chapel and library survived the destruction. The disaster forced a decisive change. Construction of a permanent stone palace began in 1796 on the same Ajuda site, replacing decades of makeshift living with lasting architecture.