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Governors' house
The governors' house was finished in 1743 in a plain Baroque style
Gomes Freire de Andrade, governor of the Capitania of Rio de Janeiro, ordered the building. The military engineer José Fernandes Pinto Alpoim enlarged the existing Royal mint and storage house into the Governor's House, finished in 1743.
The viceroys
In 1763 it became the Viceroy's Palace, and the square gained a fountain
In 1763 the seat of colonial government moved from Salvador to Rio de Janeiro, and the building became the Viceroy's Palace. The square beside it gained a stone harborside quay and a new fountain, the Fonte de Mestre Valentim, which still exists today.
A royal court
In 1808 a prince regent fleeing Napoleon made it a royal palace
The palace became a Royal Palace in 1808, when the court of prince regent John of Braganza arrived in Rio, escaping the invasion of Portugal by Napoleon. An elevated passageway linked it with the Carmelite Convent, where Queen Mary I was housed.
Two decisions
Two decisions were made here: staying in 1822 and ending slavery in 1888
On 9 January 1822, Pedro I announced from a balcony facing the square that he would refuse Portuguese orders and remain in an independent Brazil. In 1888 Princess Isabel, acting as regent, signed the Lei Áurea, which banned slavery from Brazil.
Restored
The palace became a mail office, then was restored in 1980
With the Republic in 1889 the palace lost its importance and became the central Mail Office for Rio. Its decorations were dispersed and the façades modified. A restoration in 1980 returned it to its appearance around 1818. Since 1984 it has been a cultural center.
Day 5, morning
Next is Museum of Tomorrow.
More stories from this trip idea
The words are a retelling of the Wikipedia article Paço Imperial, and are shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. They are checked against those articles, and a fact that is not in them is left out.