The Teatro Nacional de São Carlos (Portuguese pronunciation: [tiˈatɾu nɐsiuˈnal dɨ sɐ̃w ˈkaɾluʃ]) (National Theatre of Saint Charles) is an opera house in Lisbon, Portugal.

It was opened on June 30, 1793 by Queen Maria I[1] as a replacement for the Tejo Opera House, which was destroyed in the 1755 Lisbon earthquake.

The theatre was built in only six months following a design by Portuguese architect José da Costa e Silva, with neoclassical and rococo elements.

The most famous Portuguese composer of the time, Marcos Portugal, became musical director of the São Carlos in 1800 after returning from Italy, and many of his operas were staged here.

Subsequent principal conductors of the Orquestra Sinfónica Portuguesa have included José Ramón Encinar (1999–2001), Zoltán Peskó (2001–2004) and Julia Jones[6] (2008–2011).

This central body is torn by a portico (entrance hall), and has a loggia at the ground level composed of 3 frontal arches and a lateral, in perfect round.

At the level of the third floor, this same central body presents a clock surrounded by garlands and two windows, all of which is surmounted by two pinnacles and the Portuguese coats-of-arms.