Casa dos Bicos

Casa dos Bicos stands out immediately on Rua dos Bacalhoeiros with its facade of 1,125 pyramid-shaped stones jutting from the walls like a giant cheese grater. Built in 1523 for the son of Afonso de Albuquerque, this palace survived the 1755 earthquake when most of Lisbon didn't. Today it houses the José Saramago Foundation with a small museum about the Nobel Prize winner, plus Roman archaeological remains in the basement that date back 2,000 years.

You'll enter through the ground floor into a surprisingly intimate space. The Saramago exhibition takes up just two rooms upstairs, featuring his typewriter, manuscripts, and personal items, but it's thoughtfully curated. The real surprise comes in the basement where glass panels reveal Roman fish-salting tanks and pottery fragments. The contrast feels surreal: you're examining ancient Roman industry beneath a Renaissance palace covered in spiky stones.

Most guidebooks oversell this as a major attraction, but it's better viewed as a quick cultural stop while exploring Alfama. The Saramago exhibition will only engage you if you know his work (start with "Blindness" before visiting). Entry is free, making it perfect for a 30-minute detour. Skip it entirely if you're pressed for time, unless you're specifically interested in Portuguese literature or Roman archaeology.