Rossio and the Inquisition palace

Stand facing the columned building on the north side, the Teatro Nacional D. Maria II. Its elegance hides what once stood on this very spot.

1The Estaus Palace

Here stood the Estaus Palace, built in the mid-fifteenth century to lodge ambassadors and visiting nobles. In 1571 it became the headquarters of the Portuguese Inquisition. For more than two centuries its rooms and cells saw interrogations and trials of New Christians accused of secretly practising Judaism, alleged heretics, bigamists and supposed sorcerers.

The square around you was the stage for autos-da-fé, public ceremonies in which sentences were read out before the crowd. Executions took place here too, such as that of the nobles who plotted against King João IV in 1641.

2A fire and a theatre

After the Inquisition was abolished in 1821, the palace had other uses until a fire destroyed it in 1836. In its place, the national theatre opened in 1846. Lisbon swapped the courtroom for the stage.

3The king who isn't who they say

Now look at the central column. At the top stands Pedro IV, King of Portugal and first Emperor of Brazil. For decades a rumour claimed that the statue had been made for Maximilian of Mexico and bought cheaply after his execution.

Historians reject the rumour: the monument, unveiled in 1870, carried Portuguese symbols from the very start.

4What to look out for

• The Teatro Nacional D. Maria II, on the site of the Inquisition palace.
• The statue of Pedro IV, almost thirty metres up.
• The wave-patterned paving, which seems to ripple beneath your feet.