Parliament Throws Open São Bento on Monday for Republic Day, the First 5 October With Seguro as President
Free visits from 14:30 to 19:00, a piano recital, a children's treasure hunt and a concert, after the City Hall ceremony where Seguro and Moedas speak. What the 5 October holiday means, and how it was lost and restored.
Monday, 5 October, is Implantação da República (Republic Day), the anniversary of the 1910 revolution that ended the monarchy in Portugal. It is a national public holiday, and in Lisbon it brings two public events: the official ceremony at City Hall in the late morning, and a free afternoon open house at the Assembleia da República (Parliament).
The ceremony
The commemorations centre, as every year, on the Praça do Município, the square in front of Lisbon City Hall where the Republic was proclaimed from the balcony in 1910. The President of the Republic, António José Seguro, and the mayor of Lisbon, Carlos Moedas, will speak at the solemn session, according to Lusa. It is Seguro's first 5 October as head of state: he took office on 9 March.
The President of Parliament, José Pedro Aguiar-Branco, will attend the ceremony and then open the Palácio de São Bento (São Bento Palace) to the public, as he also does on 25 April.
Parliament's open afternoon
According to Parliament's own programme, the palace will be open for free visits from 14:30 to 19:00, with last entry at 18:30. Entry is free but limited to the capacity of each room. Lusa reports that the Casa do Parlamento, the interpretive centre next to the palace, will open as well.
- 14:30, Main Atrium: "Clássico ao piano" (classical piano), played by Gil Brito.
- 15:30 to 16:30 and 17:00 to 18:00, Inner Garden: a treasure hunt for children aged 6 to 12, "Missão República!" (Mission Republic!). Places go to whoever arrives first, and children collect a wristband on site.
- 16:00, Noble Hall: "Antiprincesas: Carolina Beatriz Ângelo", a show about the doctor who in 1911 became the first woman to vote in Portugal.
- 17:30, Senate Chamber: a concert by the singer Luís Trigacheiro.
Three exhibitions run all afternoon. One is on the Constitution and communities. One shows art from the collections of Lisbon's psychiatric hospitals. The third covers "rejected articles" of the Constitution: proposals that never made it into the final text. Actors playing historical figures will move through the building, and children can make a commemorative Republic medal or have their faces painted.
Parliament gives an email address for questions: [email protected].
What the holiday means
5 October is one of the mandatory public holidays listed in Article 234 of the Código do Trabalho (Labour Code), so most workers have the day off. Public services, including citizen's shops (Lojas do Cidadão) and tax offices, close for national holidays. Public transport usually runs a reduced holiday timetable, so check your operator before you travel.
The holiday was not always secure. The 2012 labour reform, Lei n.º 23/2012 (Law 23/2012), struck 5 October off the list, together with Corpus Christi, All Saints' Day and 1 December. Parliament restored all four with Lei n.º 8/2016, which took effect in April 2016.
Museums and palaces run by the State have their own rules on holiday opening, which we covered when the Government set a daily payment for staff who work public holidays. For Seguro's first months in Belém, see our six-month assessment.
