This muse­um-city, whose roots go back to Roman times, reached its gold­en age in the 15th cen­tu­ry, when it became the res­i­dence of the Por­tuguese kings. Its unique qual­i­ty stems from the white­washed hous­es dec­o­rat­ed with azule­jos and wrought-iron bal­conies dat­ing from the 16th to the 18th cen­tu­ry. Its mon­u­ments had a pro­found influ­ence on Por­tuguese archi­tec­ture in Brazil.