The Ducal Palace of Vila Viçosa is a monumental building located in the Terreiro do Paço plaza of the Alente-jo town in the district of Évora, whose construction began in 1501 by decision of the fourth Duke of Bragan-za, D. Jaime. It is one of the masterpieces of Portuguese civil architecture of the Modern Age, and it is as-sumed that its design is due to the royal architect Nicolau de Frias. He must have begun the project around 1577 at the behest of the sixth Duke João I, interrupting the work with the Battle of Alcácer Quibir and re-suming it rapidly in 1583, at the behest of Duke Theodósio II. It was finished in the 17th century by the archi-tect Pero Vaz Pereira. The expansion and improvement campaigns followed one after another throughout the 16th and 17th centuries, giving the building characteristics such as the 110 metre long, classically-inspired façade, unique in Portuguese civil architecture. In 1910, with the implantation of the Republic, it closed its doors. In the forties, by express wish in the will of King Manuel II, it reopened, after the creation of the House of Braganza Foundation. It has been classified as a National Monument since 1970.