Gerard de Visme (1725-1795) arrived in Lisbon from England. Of Huguenot descent, he becomes a powerful English merchant and good friend of the Marquis of Pombal. He built the Hospital for British Seamen, at Estrela in 1793, which later became the Parsonage, then the British Hospital (1793). He also built a neo-gothic castle at Monserrate, in Sintra and later had a beautiful estate in Benfica, where he received and entertained with princely hospitality.
SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER