Núcleo Museológico do Palácio de Monserrate

The current Palace, with an exotic Oriental plan, was built from an 18th century building that imitated a medieval castle. A possession of the Mello e Castro family, it was rented to Gerard DeVisme at the end of the 18th century, who bulit a neogothic manor. In 1856 it was acquired by Francis Cook, who built a new Oriental palace, with revivalist motifs, a true testimony to the romantic architecture. He also ordered the plantation of the Moserrate Park, that combines exotic and local plants, currently an important botanical museum. Nowadays, one may only visit the gardens.