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Palacio Nacional de Mafra

The woman who rented the apartment to us in Peniche left us a list of places to visit.  One of them was the National Palace in Mafra about an hour from here.  I did some reading about it and learned it houses a very well known library.  
National Palace of Mafra

During my reading I learned that tours of the library are by appointment only for certain people.  So, I thought what the hectic, couldn't hurt to try.  I sent an email and had a quick response that Jim and I could come today.  The librarian's name is Clotilde Mendes.  She met us on the first floor and, oh, what a tour----not only the library but the Palace, as well.  The Palace has 1400 rooms and is 4 KM square.  The cornerstone was laid in 1729 and was finished in 1746.  The following are pictures of the library:







Geography Section.

Clotilde pulled a few books off the shelves and let us look at them--printed in the 1600 and 1700!!
They are in amazing shape.  The Library is pretty much all archival--a holding place for history on many different subjects


How to take care of a dog.


Can you tell I enjoyed myself???  

We had lunch in an outside cafe across from the Palace and took back roads back to Peniche.















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