At the time, the land belonged to the Todos os Santos Hospital in Lisbon, whose rector was Friar Gaspar Preto. He had plans for the area that included using it as a workshop and a place to raise food for the Hospital.

Prior to being purchased in 1718 by Caetano de Mello e Castro, Commander of Christ and Viceroy of India, the Estate of Monserrate had been governed by the Mello e Castro family from the 17th century. Unfortunately, the Lisbon earthquake of 1755 devastated the area in the same century, leaving a significant trail of devastation. Gerard of Visme, a British businessman who rented the location even though it was in terrible condition, commissioned the construction of a Neogothic castle there but was only going to live there for a short time.

Later a retreat for writers, Monserrate attracted countless foreign travelers, especially English ones, who extolled its beauty in travel reports and engravings. When Francis Cook, a wealthy 19th-century English industrialist and great art collector, visited the site, he was fascinated. From this passion was born a masterpiece of Romanticism: the Park and Palace of Monserrate. Francis Cook materialized his dream, transforming Monserrate into what we know today, with its lush gardens – which dazzle the visitor with exotic species from the four corners of the world –, and a palace that is a true ode to romantic architecture, to refined taste. of Francis Cook and the genius of architect James Knowles Jr., who combined several influences there.