Declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2019, the National Palace of Mafra is Portugal’s most important Baroque monument. The Royal Palace and convent complex includes a 232-metre gallery — the longest palatial corridor in Europe — a magnificent library considered one of the most beautiful in the world, two historic carillons with 98 bells and six unique Basilica organs. With around 1,200 rooms and monumental architecture funded by Brazilian gold, Mafra stands as a powerful symbol of royal authority and artistic ambition.

José Franco Village Museum is also commonly called Saloia Village, Cork Oak Typical Village or even José Franco Typical Village. This village is one of the most recognized musealized villages in the country. To tell the story of this village we have to go back to 1920, the year of the birth of potter José Franco. The son of a shoemaker and a door-to-door cookware saleswoman (and at fairs when business was weak), José Franco lived with the potter's trade from an early age. The Cork Oak was, at the time, an important potter center, and it is customary for the people of the earth to learn to handle the clay and make a profession of it. Franco learned the trade from two local potter masters before starting at age 17 on his own. In the early 1960s, José Franco began to shape an old dream, to recreate a village of ethnographic character, where the way of life of local people was mirrored. It was a form of tribute to his land.