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Casa dos Contos
Ouro Preto, Vila Rica, Minas Gerais, Brazil
Housing
This is one of the most beautiful and largest colonial houses in Brazil, which belonged to the wealthy Collector of Tithes and Taxes João Rodrigues de Macedo. There is no reliable information available about the author of the design or even who was responsible for the works carried out in 1782-1787, but it is likely that they enjoyed the participation of the Portuguese José Pereira Arouca, taking into account some similar details in the Casa dos Contos and the Chapter House in Mariana. During the repression of the Inconfidência Mineira rebellion, the ground floor was adapted into a prison for the wealthiest defendants, such as the lawyer Cláudio Manuel da Costa, who committed suicide (or was murdered) in one of its rooms. The Royal Treasury Council (Junta da Real Fazenda) and the administrative section of the Gold Assaying Office (Intendência do Ouro) were transferred to that site In 1793. The building thus became the seat of government and the exchequer in the captaincy of Minashence the name “Casa dos Contos”. The royal exchequer incorporated the building in 1803, as the owner had not handed in the tributes collected to the Treasury. The upper floor of the córrego wing was added in 1820 to accommodate the Casa de Fundição – the Royal Foundry, which until then had been housed in an annex of the Governors’ Palace. The basement was the quarters of the domestic slaves, which could be reached through the inner courtyard. The building is made entirely of stone; the main façade has cornerstones, cymatia, doors and windows with stone frames and nine balcony windows with iron railings. The roof is crowned by a quadrangular belvedere turret, which was added in 1840. Inside, attention is drawn to the beautiful, monumental stone staircase in the vestibule and the ceiling with original paintings from the 18th century in the great hall of the upper floor.
Cláudia Damasceno Fonseca