King Joseph ordered a permanent palace after the 1755 earthquake, and a wooden Royal Barraca stood until a fire in 1794. Manuel Caetano de Sousa made the original Baroque-Rococo design, and the first cornerstone was laid on November 9, 1795. José da Costa e Silva and Francisco Xavier Fabri became architects in 1802 and shifted it toward neoclassicism. Funding shortages and the French invasion repeatedly halted work. The article says the project lasted until the late 19th century, and the western wing was never completed. The infobox gives brick, while the text describes an ashlar limestone facade.
The royal family made it their formal residence in 1862. A fire in 1974 destroyed part of the north wing.
It became a museum in 1938, opened to the public in 1968, and has been a National Monument since 1910.
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