The President of the Republic and Mrs. Cavaco Silva celebrated the opening of the Christmas decorations in the Palace of Belém in the presence of primary school children from local community educational centres.

The performance of the “Jerónimos Children’s Choir”, in the Hall of Fountains, preceded the presentation of the Christmas Tree, decorated with toys of the period of the First Republic, from the collection of the Vagos Toy Museum.

In the Banqueting Hall where the Christmas Eve supper table is displayed, the decoration is allusive to the discovery of the five senses, with 17th century paintings framed with a text by Father José Tolentino de Mendonça.

On display in the Gold Hall is a 19th century mechanical nativity scene, originally belonging to the Santa Clara Convent, in Funchal, but which nowadays belongs in a private collection.