[2][3] With the establishment of the Kingdom of Portugal by Afonso III, royal surveys, or inquirições gerais (general inquiries), were made at his command to inspect titles of lands claimed by the nobility and clergy,[4] determined that the population around Lisbon was dispersed throughout the lowlands, which were suitable for agriculture.

It was "to give religious and spiritual support" to the villagers that Henry the Navigator, as governor in the military-religious Order of Christ, initiated construction near the fishing port of a small church dedicated to Saint Mary.

[7] The existing structure was started on the orders of Manuel I (1469–1521) at the courts of Montemor-o-Velho in 1495, as a final resting-place for members of the House of Aviz, in his belief that an Iberian dynastic kingdom would rule after his death.

On 29 September 1855, the body of King Afonso VI was transported to the royal pantheon of the House of Braganza in the Monastery of São Vicente de Fora, along with his three brothers and sister.

The same monarch ordered construction of "a tower of four storeys" (in the words of Damião de Góis) on a basaltic outcropping of rocks in the Tagus near its north bank, using some of the stones being collected to build the Jerónimos Monastery.

As the population continued to slowly grow, the demographics of the suburb changed sufficiently that Friar Nicolau de Oliveira indicated in 1620 that it was within the city limits.

In 1770, during the reign of Joseph I, the ecclesiastical parish of São Pedro de Alcântara, including the territory east of the Alcântra River, was established, thus deannexing it from Ajuda.

King Joseph and his court moved to a complex of tents and barracks located on a part of the royal estates where the Ajuda National Palace would be built.

A lack of funds had delayed completion of the Ajuda National Palace, so with the French invasion in 1807, the royal family fled to Rio de Janeiro.

Rapid industrialization began in this period and continued throughout the 19th century; an 1881 inquiry established that 25 factories produced goods in the Alcântara-Belém region, employing 1,215 men, 812 women and 432 minors.

The royal family of King Louis of Portugal and Queen Maria Pia of Savoy began to reside in the Ajuda National Palace.

Belém is recognized for its concentration of national monuments and public spaces, including a mixture of historical buildings and modern symbols of Portuguese culture.

This juxtaposition of famous icons developed from Belém's important military position along the mouth of the Tagus; its role in the exploration in India and the Far East (the Caminho das Índias); and 17th–18th century construction of royal residences and noble estates in the parish following the destruction stemming from the 1755 earthquake and tsunami.

To the west of the gardens lies the Centro Cultural de Belém, built in 1992 during Portugal's term in the revolving role at the helm of the European Union presidency.