Condes de Tomar Palace —Brotéria

This building, close to Igreja de São Roque, has recently been adapted to become the cultural centre of Brotéria, the natural sciences journal created 120 years ago by the Portuguese Jesuits. With a programme that connects contemporary urban cultures to the Christian faith, new theological and aesthetic languages are developed there. At the entrance, you find the bookshop and, next to it, an art gallery. Opposite, an ellipse-shaped majestic staircase rises in a single curved movement up to the top floor. Its nobility takes us back to the building’s history, erected in the 19th century to be the home the Counts of Tomar. Later, it became the headquarters of the Royal British Club and the municipal newspaper archive. Currently, on the first floor, you will find the café, with access to an outdoor patio, study rooms, and the library, where around 95 thousand books and 65 thousand magazines are stored, mainly focused on history, literature, politics, philosophy, and theology.