The São Bento Palace in Lisbon began as the first Benedictine monastery of Lisbon, founded in 1598, and now houses the Assembly of the Republic. The 17th-century monastery was Mannerist, designed by the Jesuit architect Baltazar Álvares and later João Turriano. Monks settled in 1615, and the 1755 earthquake caused extensive damage.
Monasteries were dissolved in 1834, and the building became national property and parliament's seat. Possidónio da Silva worked on the early session rooms, and Jean François Colson remodeled the chapter house in 1867. A fire in 1895 led to facade changes, with Miguel Ventura Terra adding a neoclassical portico. A new lower-house chamber opened in 1903, and a monumental stairway was finished in the 1940s. The infobox credits Adolfo Marques da Silva and Cristino da Silva and lists the style as Neoclassical.
Fernando Távora added an annex in 1994 to 1997, and the building became a National Monument in 2002.
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