The Chamber of Senators (Câmara dos Senadores) or Senate was the upper house of the Cortes Gerais - the legislature of the Portuguese Constitutional Monarchy -, during the period in which the Constitution of 1838 was in force.
It replaced the previous Chamber of the Peers, which was the upper house during the period of the Constitutional Charter of 1826.
During the erstwhile "New Republic" of Sidónio Pais in 1918, additional senators represented special interests: agriculture, industry, commerce, public services, "liberal professions", arts and sciences.
Although the Chamber of Deputies was the dominant house of the Congress, the Senate had the power of approving or rejecting nominations of colonial governors and high commissioners.
[1] The term "senate" was used, in the past, as an alternative designation of the municipal government bodies of some main cities of Portugal and of the Portuguese Empire, otherwise known as câmaras (chambers, also translated as "municipal councils").