Palácio Nacional e Convento de Mafra
The National Palace and Convent of Mafra is a monumental Baroque and Neoclassical palace-monastery complex located in Mafra, Portugal. Commissioned in 1717 by King John V in fulfillment of a vow to God for the birth of a royal heir, the immense complex spans over 40,000 square meters, featuring 1,200 rooms, 4,700 doors and windows, a magnificent basilica housing 92 bells, and one of Europe's grandest Enlightenment libraries. Built through the forced labor of over 52,000 conscripted workers and Brazilian gold, the palace's construction cost thousands of lives due to accidents and disease. The colossal building is famous for intense ghost legends, including spectral conscripted laborers wandering the endless corridors, organ pipes playing on their own in the basilica, and urban legends of giant mutant rats lurking in the subterranean vaults.