The information was published in a decree published in the Diário da República.

The decree highlights the “fundamental character of the assets, their interest as remarkable testimonies of historical experiences or events, their intrinsic aesthetic, technical and material value, their interest as symbolic and religious testimonies, and their importance from the perspective of historical and scientific research and what is reflected therein from the point of view of collective memory, as well as the circumstances likely to cause a decrease or loss of the permanence or integrity of the assets and the effective need for protection and enhancement of the whole”.

The process was initiated in 2023 by the then Directorate-General for Cultural Heritage, noting that “the protection and enhancement [of the tomb's contents] represent cultural value of significance for the Nation”.

At the beginning of 2025, the deadline for completing the classification of the artefacts from the tomb of King D. Dinis (1261-1325) was extended until August of that year, with the classification proposal due in July.

The tomb of D. Dinis, in the Monastery of Odivelas, in the district of Lisbon, was opened in 2020, revealing a sword, a silver buckle, and various textiles.

The tomb was closed on 28 June 2023, in the Monastery of Odivelas, and at the time, archaeologist Maria Antónia Amaral, one of those responsible for the ongoing study on the monarch and his artifacts, indicated to the Lusa news agency that she had proposed the classification of the cloak and sword found there as national treasures.

According to the archaeologist, the king's remains were studied by an anthropology team, and there is also the collection associated with the monarch and the infante – one of King Dinis's grandsons, who is also buried in the monastery – that needs to be studied, and further analyses, datings, inventories, reports and scientific articles would be produced.

In the justification for the classification proposal, in a document from July 2023, the “high patrimonial interest of the collection from the tomb of King D. Dinis” was noted, concluding that “it is an unprecedented historical-artistic set, which demonstrates values ​​of memory, antiquity, authenticity, originality, creativity, rarity and singularity”.

Other certifications

In the same decree, a Flemish painting representing Our Lady in a landscape praying before Christ Crucified, probably from the Antwerp School, a plaster model of the equestrian statue of Joseph I, by Joaquim Machado de Castro, and two phonograms relating to the password of the April 25th Revolution were classified as a national treasure.

In another decree, also published on 16 February, the classification as a set of national interest of the collection of the Chapel of St. John the Baptist of the Church of São Roque, in Lisbon, is confirmed, where “one of the most extraordinary liturgical sets from the mid-18th century existing in Portugal is preserved”.