O Palácio de Belém, residência oficial do Presidente da República, visto dos jardins da Praça Afonso de Albuquerque, em 2017.Dguendel, CC BY 4.0
Belém
Palácio de Belém
Here, in 1970, the first woman to be part of a government in Portugal took office. In September 1974 the palace was the stage for the tense meetings that led to Spínola’s resignation; on 25 November 1975, for President Costa Gomes’s command post.
Today: Palácio de Belém – Presidency of the RepublicOn one walk
On 10 September 1974, the declaration recognising the independence of Guinea-Bissau was signed here. At the ceremony, the President of the Republic, António de Spínola, attacked the decolonisation process and appealed to the “silent majority” (maioria silenciosa).1 That was the name of the demonstration in support of the President called for 28 September, in Belém: that of the country which, according to the Commemorative Commission, rejected the revolution, socialism and the course of decolonisation.2
There followed, in the words of the official report on 28 September, “hours of extraordinary tension and emotion”. In successive meetings at the palace, Spínola tried to declare a state of siege and to dismiss the prime minister, Vasco Gonçalves, who, with Otelo Saraiva de Carvalho, was at one point apparently held at Belém. Outside, trade unions, workers’ and residents’ committees and left-wing parties were putting up barricades on the roads into Lisbon. In the end the demonstration was called off by Spínola and banned by the Armed Forces Movement (MFA), and at the appointed time it was left-wing activists who gathered in Belém. On 30 September, at a meeting of the Council of State broadcast by RTP, Spínola announced his resignation.1Costa Gomes was appointed in his place.4
On 25 November 1975, at around 09:00, the President of the Republic, the Council of the Revolution and military commanders held an emergency meeting here, and a command post was set up in the palace, directed by Costa Gomes, assisted by Vasco Lourenço, with Ramalho Eanes as his deputy. Costa Gomes summoned Álvaro Cunhal to Belém, seeking to demobilise the activists and civilians gathered outside some of the barracks, and at 16:30 he declared a state of siege in the Lisbon region. Major Diniz de Almeida came to Belém after a telephone call from the Presidency and was arrested as soon as he arrived.3 In March, it was he who had commanded the defence of RAL 1.7
On 25 April 1974 the command post of the forces loyal to the regime was set up in the Lanceiros 2 barracks, on Calçada da Ajuda, until the soldiers themselves sided with the Movement. On 25 November 1975, the Commandos attacked the Military Police Regiment here: three people were killed.
Today: Jardim Botânico Tropical — Museu Nacional de História Natural e da Ciência (Universidade de Lisboa)
Criado em 1906 como Jardim Colonial, recebeu em 1940 a Secção Colonial da Exposição do Mundo Português: 138 homens, mulheres e crianças trazidos das colónias foram aqui expostos ao público durante meses.
Today: Jardim público, com a Fonte Monumental ao centro
Aberta para a Exposição do Mundo Português, em 1940, foi o centro da maior montra de propaganda do império montada pelo Estado Novo. Os brasões das colónias que o jardim recebeu nos anos 60 voltaram a dar polémica no século XXI.
Today: Monumento com miradouro, auditório e salas de exposições
Erguido em 1940 para a Exposição do Mundo Português e refeito em pedra em 1960, é o monumento do mito dos «Descobrimentos»: 33 figuras, uma só de mulher. Em 1975, os caixotes de quem regressava das colónias amontoaram-se aqui ao lado.
ColonialismCulture and censorship
Notes on the sources2
The day Maria Teresa Cárcomo Lobo took office, in August 1970: her appointment was reported in A Capital on 20 August.
Where the Council of State met on 30 September 1974, when Spínola announced his resignation: the sources consulted do not say.
Do you know more, or do you have a document? Tell us.
Sources
128 de Setembro. Comissão Comemorativa 50 Anos 25 de Abril — consulted on 2 October 2026
325 de Novembro de 1975. Comissão Comemorativa 50 Anos 25 de Abril — consulted on 2 October 2026
4Do 25 de Abril de 74 ao 11 de Março de 75. RTP – Memórias da Revolução (textos de Aniceto Afonso, Carlos Matos Gomes e Maria Inácia Rezola) — consulted on 2 October 2026
