Eight years after the death of Charles II of England (in 1685), who left no legitimate son as heir to the throne, Queen Catherine of Braganza, daughter of John IV, returned to Portugal in 1693.

[2] She decided to purchase from Francisca Pereira Teles, the noble homes and land in Bemposta area in the centre of Lisbon, in order to build her residence.

Under the direction of Manuel Caetano de Sousa (1742–1802), the building was remodeled and an elaborate chapel was constructed, with a rectangular vestibule and nave and polychromatic mosaics.

A portrait of the royal family was commissioned for the main altar, Maria I and Infante John with the court, in an iconographic representation of Lisbon, seen from the Castle of São Jorge.

At Bemposta the politics of King John VI's reign played-out: including the events of the insurrections known as the Vilafrancada and Abrilada, and his eventual death (he died in his personal quarters, on 10 March 1826).

Until 18 March 1834, a formal political administration occupied the Bemposta Palace, but it was vacated and returned to Crown estates under Queen Maria II.

With changes in the urban planning in Lisbon, the area in front of the palace became reduced, and traffic along the avenue resulted in the shortening of the main outside staircase in 1860 (with the widening of the road).

This façade is completed by a triangular wall adorned by the relief of two seraphs adoring the Virgin Mary (by the sculptor Joaquim de Barros Laborão, surmounted by a cross above a plinth.

[3] In the chapel's atrium there are two niches with statutes of Elizabeth of Portugal and John the Baptist (begun by José de Almeida and completed by Barros Laborão).