Baroque architectural ensemble, of Italian matrix, consisting of royal palace, basilica and Franciscan convent, built uninterruptedly between 1717 and 1744, on the initiative and under close supervision of D. João V (1689 - 1750), according to the original project of the architect João Frederico Ludovice (1673 - 1752), which counted on partial projects, elaborated during the work, as a way of responding to successive increases. Usually compared to the Madrid Monastery of Escorial, Mafra appears, above all, as an impressive affirmation of absolute power, the Portuguese Empire and the legitimation of the Casa de Bragança.