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Governors’ Palace (Mining School – Mineralogical Museum)
Ouro Preto, Vila Rica, Minas Gerais, Brazil
Equipment and Infrastructures
During the rebellion of Vila Rica in 1720, the Count of Assumar informed the king of the usefulness of creating “a palace in the form of a fortress” on the Morro de Santa Quitéria, in order to better control the two main arraiais (Ouro Preto and António Dias). The construction of the definitive Palace, however, only began in 1741, on the land formerly occupied by the Royal Foundry and following the project commissioned from the engineer José Fernandes Pinto Alpoim. The building work, done in stone and mortar, was contracted to Manoel Francisco Lisboa and Manuel Ferreira Poças. It must have been finished around 1749. Built on sloping land, its front part has a terrace and an access ramp reinforced by thick sloping walls. There are bastions with watchtowers in each of the four corners, a cordon and a parapet. The construction of the chapel started in 1766 on the terrace of the right-hand bastion, Manoel Francisco de Araújo received payment for the construction of the altarpiece in 1781. The Palace was used as the official residence by all the governors of the captaincy and province of Minas Gerais until 1897-1898. Initially, the building consisted only of the central quadrilateral body with two floors and had doors and windows in Itacolomi stone (including the beautiful portal), being surrounded by walls, with terraces for artillery, a vestibule, central courtyards and an empty area at the back. When it became the seat of the Mining School, several adjoining buildings were erected in these areas; in the early 20th century, the appearance of the main building was changed by an addition made to the side on the right of the access ramp. The two fountains made of rustic masonry, in the style that was typical of Northern Portugal, are still to be found in the inner area. They were commissioned from Manoel Francisco Lisboa in 1752, while their design was produced by his son, O Aleijadinho. Like most of the old civil buildings in Ouro Preto, the Palace was listed by IPHAN in 1950.
Cláudia Damasceno Fonseca