[3] Built in the baroque style, the Mafra National Palace also inspired Portuguese Nobel Prize laureate José Saramago to write his novel Baltasar and Blimunda (Memorial do Convento).

[4] In Seixosa, civil parish of Encarnação, in an area that was once a beach, there were archaeological remnants from the Paleolithic period, that indicate one of the oldest human presences in Europe.

[4] Similar human vestiges were discovered along the beach of São Julião, including specifically shell mounds produced by Mesolithic communities in the parish of Carvoeira.

[5] Wine, oil and vegetables were easily commercialized across the accessway and along the rivers of Cheleiros, Ilhas and Safarujo, which were navigable until the Middle Ages.

[5] An inscription, encountered in the parochial church of Cheleiros, a frieze in Alcainça and paeleo-Christian funerary tomb, adapted as a bunk within the Quinta da Corredoura in Mafra are the only current manifestations of these peoples.

Symbols of judicial power, these markers became posts for notices, orders or commands from Corte, and were later refurbished, repositioned or lost over time.

The era was also marked by the construction of a garden (Portuguese: Jardim do Cerco) and the establishment of the royal hunting park (Portuguese: Tapada de Mafra); building projects continued throughout the reigns of Kings Joseph I (the construction and completion of the Mafra Palace), John VI (the interiors of the Palace) and Ferdinand (the redesign of the Jardim do Cerco).

As Guilherme José Ferreira de Assunção later wrote, after a few visits, Queen Maria realized the advantages of establishing a military contingent in the Convent of Mafra, which she initiated.

By 1859, 4000 troops would enlist in the official military boot-camp (Portuguese: Depósito Geral de Recrutas), established by King Pedro V. Unfortunately, the institution was abolished in the following year, when 94 recruits died from an infectious disease.

In 1887 the Infantry and Cavalry School (Portuguese: Escola Prática de Infantaria e Cavalaria) and, a year later, in Tapada, a firing range was established, that was later frequented by King Carlos, an enthusiast of shooting.

Part of the army headed for Peniche and Torres Vedras under orders from General Luison, the remaining forces garrisoned in the Palace and Convent, while the executive staff requisitioned homes in the village.

Meanwhile, Portuguese engineers, allied to British forces constructed a system of fortresses north of Lisbon, to secure the defence of the capital and expel the French.

The next day they abandoned the palace, by car, travelling with his mother and grandmother to the shores of Praia dos Pescadores in Ericeira, where the royal yacht D. Amélia would take them onto Gibraltar and exile.

Later that month, on 20 October, a group of monarchists gathered in the Largo D. João V with arms, where they walked to the Infantry School (Portuguese: Escola Prática de Infantaria), installing themselves in the convent, cutting the telephone wires and telegraph cables.

In addition, the municipality is served by the A8 highway (Lisbon-Leiria), with connections to Venda do Pinheiro, Malveira and Enxara dos Cavaleiros, and the A21 highway (Ericeira–Mafra–Malveira), with connections to Ericeira, Mafra Oeste, Mafra Este, Malveira and Venda do Pinheiro, which have improved the movement of passengers and commerce, and consequently, the development of the region.