Paço de São Cristóvão (; ; also known as Palácio Imperial or Palácio Imperial de São Cristóvão) was an imperial palace located in the

Quinta da Boa Vista The Quinta da Boa Vista () is a public park of great historical importance located in the São Cristóvão (Rio de Janeiro), São Cristóvão neighbourhood, in the North zone of the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The park was part of the garden ...

park in the Imperial Neighbourhood of São Cristóvão,

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. It served as residence to the

Portuguese royal family The Most Serene House of Braganza (), also known as the Brigantine dynasty (''dinastia Brigantina''), is a dynasty of emperors, kings, princes, and dukes of Portuguese people, Portuguese origin which reigned in Europe and the Americas. The hous ...

and later to the Brazilian imperial family until 1889, when the country became a republic through a

coup d'état A coup d'état (; ; ), or simply a coup , is typically an illegal and overt attempt by a military organization or other government elites to unseat an incumbent leadership. A self-coup is said to take place when a leader, having come to powe ...

deposing Emperor Pedro II. The palace briefly served as a public building by the

provisional government A provisional government, also called an interim government, an emergency government, a transitional government or provisional leadership, is a temporary government formed to manage a period of transition, often following state collapse, revoluti ...

for the constituent assembly of the first republican constitution. It housed the major part (92.5%) of the collections of the

National Museum of Brazil National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ...

, which, together with the building, were largely destroyed by a fire on 2 September 2018.

History

Background

In the 16th and 17th centuries, the area where the palace is located was part of a

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

farm in the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro. With the expulsion of the Order in 1759, the property was dismembered and passed into private ownership. In the early 19th century, the area became known as the ''Quinta da Boa Vista'' (Estate with a Beautiful View), because the Tijuca Forest,

Corcovado Corcovado () which means " hunchback" in Portuguese, is a mountain in central Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is a granite peak located in the Tijuca Forest, a national park. Corcovado hill lies just west of the city center but is wholly within t ...

, and Cajú beach could be seen from it; it belonged to a Portuguese-Lebanese

slave Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

merchant A merchant is a person who trades in goods produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Merchants have been known for as long as humans have engaged in trade and commerce. Merchants and merchant networks operated i ...

, ''Elie Antun Lubbus'', (''Elias Antônio Lopes'' in Portuguese), who erected, around 1803, a hilltop

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were usually held the lord's manorial courts, communal mea ...

from which one could see

Guanabara Bay Guanabara Bay (, , ) is an oceanic bay in Southeast Brazil in the state of Rio de Janeiro (state), Rio de Janeiro. On its western shore lie the cities of Rio de Janeiro (city), Rio de Janeiro and Duque de Caxias, Rio de Janeiro, Duque de Caxias, a ...

. When the Portuguese court was transferred to Brazil, in 1808, Lopes donated his farm to the

prince regent A prince regent or princess regent is a prince or princess who, due to their position in the line of succession, rules a monarchy as regent in the stead of a monarch, e.g., as a result of the sovereign's incapacity (minority or illness) or ab ...

, João VI. João VI appreciated the gift and stayed for long periods in the manor house. Before belonging to the monarchy, the residence was just one of many colonial-style mansions scattered throughout the country. With the arrival of João VI to Brazil, who had left Lisbon fleeing Napoleon in 1808, countless houses in Rio were expropriated to house the royal entourage. Lopes preempted that fate for the Quinta da Boa Vista, and in return, João VI granted Lopes titles of nobility and a fat indemnity. The mansion underwent many renovations over the decades, including the addition of an imposing masonry and cast-iron gate, the erection of a Moorish style side tower, construction of a semicircular staircase to the second floor residence, and, later, a second tower in the neoclassical style. A third floor was added, and the Moorish tower rebuilt in neoclassical style. All of the changes left the Palace of São Cristóvão appropriate to the power of the Brazilian Empire at its height. In 1847, Parliament approved a government bill that would allocate 240 contos de reis to complete the seemingly endless reforms. For Senator ''Clemente Pereira (PA)'', Pedro II had to leave Sao Cristóvão, Pereira's proposal was approved, but the government did not even design a new imperial palace.

Royal residence

Prince Regent John and his family had been living in the

Paço Imperial The Paço Imperial (), or Imperial Palace, previously known as the Royal Palace of Rio de Janeiro and Palace of the Viceroys, is a historic building in the center of the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The Paço Imperial was built in the 18th ce ...

since their arrival in Rio de Janeiro in 1808. The prince regent felt very honored by Elias's gift of the best house in Rio and rewarded Elias with another property, not quite as grand. He began transforming the manor into a royal residence. At the time, the area of the farm was still surrounded by mangroves and communication by land with the city was difficult. Later, the wetlands were drained and the roads improved. To better accommodate the royal family, the manor house, though vast and comfortable, needed to be adapted. The most important renovation was begun at the time of the nuptials of Prince Pedro with the Archduchess

Maria Leopoldina of Austria Don (honorific), Dona Maria Leopoldina of Austria (22 January 1797 – 11 December 1826) was the first Empress of Brazil as the wife of Emperor Dom (title), Dom Pedro I of Brazil, Pedro I from 12 October 1822 until her death. She was ...

, in 1819, and finished 1821. The renovation was directed by English

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

John Johnston. In front of the palace, Johnston installed a decorative

portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cu ...

, a gift sent from

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

to Brazil by

Hugh Percy, 2nd Duke of Northumberland Lieutenant-general (United Kingdom), Lieutenant General Hugh Percy, 2nd Duke of Northumberland (14 August 174210 July 1817) was an officer in the British army and later a British peer. He participated in the Battles of Lexington and Concord an ...

. The gate, inspired by Robert Adams' porch for the "Sion House", the nobleman's residence in England, is shaped in "

Coade stone Coade stone or ''Lithodipyra'' or ''Lithodipra'' () is stoneware that was often described as an artificial stone in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. It was used for moulding neoclassical architecture, neoclassical statues, a ...

" manufactured by the English company Coade & Sealy. The architectural line of the palace is similar to that of the Ajuda Palace which, left behind in

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

, was never finished. The Palace of São Cristóvão won deserved prominence as the new state palace of the

United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves The United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves was a pluricontinental monarchy formed by the elevation of the Portuguese colony named State of Brazil to the status of a kingdom and by the simultaneous union of that Kingdom of Brazil ...

and, subsequently, of the

Portuguese Empire The Portuguese Empire was a colonial empire that existed between 1415 and 1999. In conjunction with the Spanish Empire, it ushered in the European Age of Discovery. It achieved a global scale, controlling vast portions of the Americas, Africa ...

Imperial residence

After the declaration of

independence of Brazil The independence of Brazil comprised a series of political and military events that led to the independence of the Kingdom of Brazil from the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves as the Empire of Brazil, Brazilian Empire. It is c ...

in 1822, the palace became the residence of Emperor Pedro I. The remodelling and expansion of the palace continued under Portuguese architect Manuel da Costa (1822–1826), followed by French architect Pedro José Pezerát (1826–1831), credited as the author of the definitive Neoclassical project of the building. He added a new tower to the left of the main façade and added a third floor to the palace. The works were continued after 1847 by Brazilian artist Manuel de Araújo Porto-alegre, who harmonised the style of the façades, followed by the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

Theodore Marx (1857–1868).

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

painter Mario Bragaldi decorated many of the rooms of the palace, including the Throne Room and the Ambassadors' Room, with paintings in ''

trompe-l'œil ; ; ) is an artistic term for the highly realistic optical illusion of three-dimensional space and objects on a Two-dimensional space, two-dimensional surface. , which is most often associated with painting, tricks the viewer into perceiving p ...

''. After the marriage of Pedro I and Archduchess Maria Leopoldina of Austria in 1817, the imperial couple resided in the palace. The future Queen of Portugal, Maria II, and the future

Emperor of Brazil The monarchs of Brazil (Portuguese language, Portuguese: ''monarcas do Brasil'') were the imperial head of state, heads of state and hereditary rulers of Brazil from the House of Braganza that reigned from the creation of the Brazilian monarchy ...

Pedro II were born here. Empress Maria Leopoldina died in the palace in 1826. Pedro II, future Emperor, grew up and was educated in the palace, and in 1869 ordered the remodelling of the gardens. French garden designer Auguste François Marie Glaziou was put in charge of the project, which included artificial lakes, bridges, caves and fake ancient temples, all following the Romantic trend of the time. Pedro II's children were also born in the palace, including Princess Isabel, famous for having abolished

slavery Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

from Brazil in 1888. After the Proclamation of the Republic in 1889, the Imperial family left the country and the palace and its surrounding gardens became empty.

Republican period

In 1891, the building was used by Brazilian politicians writing the first Republican Constitution of the country. In 1892, the director of the National Museum of Rio de Janeiro managed to transfer the institution from the Campo de Santana to the palace. The inner decoration of the palace was dispersed, but part of it can still be found in other museums, like the Imperial Museum of

Petrópolis Petrópolis (), also known as the Imperial City, is a municipality in the Southeast Region of Brazil. It is located in the state of Rio de Janeiro, northeast of the city of Rio de Janeiro. According to the 2022 Brazilian census, Petrópolis mun ...

, in which the Throne Room was reassembled.

National Museum

Museu Nacional - collaborative upload 78

Founded in 1818 by King John VI of Portugal, the National Museum was transferred to the old Imperial Palace of São Cristóvão in 1892. During its long history, its collections have been greatly expanded by acquisitions and donations, including by Emperor Pedro II, a great sponsor of the sciences. The collections included

Astronomy Astronomy is a natural science that studies celestial objects and the phenomena that occur in the cosmos. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and their overall evolution. Objects of interest includ ...

(mostly

meteorites A meteorite is a rock that originated in outer space and has fallen to the surface of a planet or moon. When the original object enters the atmosphere, various factors such as friction, pressure, and chemical interactions with the atmospheri ...

Palaeontology Paleontology, also spelled as palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of the life of the past, mainly but not exclusively through the study of fossils. Paleontologists use fossils as a means to classify organisms, measure geo ...

Natural history Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

Ethnology Ethnology (from the , meaning 'nation') is an academic field and discipline that compares and analyzes the characteristics of different peoples and the relationships between them (compare cultural, social, or sociocultural anthropology). Sci ...

(including many interesting works by

Brazilian indigenous peoples Indigenous peoples in Brazil or Native Brazilians () are the peoples who lived in Brazil before European contact around 1500 and their descendants. Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous peoples once comprised an estimated 2,000 distric ...

) and

Archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

(mostly antiquities from

ancient Egypt Ancient Egypt () was a cradle of civilization concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in Northeast Africa. It emerged from prehistoric Egypt around 3150BC (according to conventional Egyptian chronology), when Upper and Lower E ...

). Much of the art collection displayed by the museum still consisted of what was gathered by Emperor Pedro II himself. In this manner, it reflects 19th-century views of anthropology, archeology and sciences in general. Visitors could also see a few rooms of the ancient palace with its original painted and

stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and ...

decoration, like the Throne Room, the Ambassadors' Room and the room of Empress Teresa Cristina. These rooms still displayed a couple original pieces but were overall empty. On 2 September 2018, the palace was devastated by an extensive fire. The damage to heritage assets have been reported to be "incalculable". One of the few known surviving major artifacts is the Bendegó meteorite. After the fire, a metallic roof covering 5,000 m² upper the

debris Debris (, ) is rubble, wreckage, ruins, litter and discarded waste, garbage/refuse/trash, scattered remains of something destroyed, or, as in geology, large rock fragments left by a melting glacier, etc. Depending on context, ''debris'' can ref ...

was built.

Gallery

Historic timeline of construction

File:PalaceSaoCristovao.jpg, Palace in the early 19th century, before the Neoclassical intervention File:Palace of Sao Cristovao between 1835 and 1840.jpg, Painting of the Imperial Palace (1835–1840) File:Jean-Baptiste Debret - Vista do Paço de São Cristovão.jpg, Antique illustration of the palace, by

Jean-Baptiste Debret Jean-Baptiste Debret (; 18 April 1768 – 28 June 1848) was a French Painting, painter, who produced many valuable lithographs depicting the people of Brazil. Debret won the second prize at the 1798 Salon de Paris, Salon des Beaux Arts. Biograph ...

(1768–1848) File:Frond, Cicéri - Palácio Imperial da Quinta da Boa Vista.jpg, 1858–1861 File:Paço de São Cristóvão, RJ (38979393230).jpg, The Palace in the end of the 19th century File:Exposição dos restos mortais de Dom Pedro I no Museu Nacional - 7.tif, Emperor Pedro I's coffin arrives at the palace for exposition, 1972 File:QuintaBoaVista1.jpg, The Imperial Palace after the Neoclassical intervention. Old pink paint File:Fire at Museu Nacional 05.jpg, The palace in flames during the night of 2 September 2018, leaving it in

ruin Ruins () are the remains of a civilization's architecture. The term refers to formerly intact structures that have fallen into a state of partial or total disrepair over time due to a variety of factors, such as lack of maintenance, deliberate ...

Exterior before the 2018 fire

File:Quinta da Boa Vista 01.jpg, Gates of the former main entrance File:Museu Nacional - UFRJ Entrada.jpg, Imperial

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

File:Quinta da Boa Vista 10.jpg, View from parking lot File:Fachada Museu Nacional - UFRJ - Foco.jpg, Facade File:Quinta da Boa Vista 12.jpg, The palace seen from the garden File:Fachada Museu Nacional - UFRJ.jpg, Side front view File:Museu Nacional - UFRJ - Fachada - Detalhe.jpg, Central view File:Museu_Nacional_(Rio_de_Janeiro)_DJI_0516-1.jpg, The palace with

Maracanã Stadium Maracanã Stadium (, ; named after the Maracanã River), officially known as Jornalista Mário Filho Stadium (, ; , named after Mário Filho), is an association football stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Located in the Maracanã neighbor ...

in the background File:Quinta da Boa Vista 13.jpg, One of the many doors File:Museu Nacional - collaborative upload 152.jpg, Detail of a door bearing the imperial cypher of Emperor Pedro II

Interior before the 2018 fire

File:Museu Nacional - UFRJ - Detalhe Teto.jpg,

Ceiling A ceiling is an overhead interior roof that covers the upper limits of a room. It is not generally considered a structural element, but a finished surface concealing the underside of the roof structure or the floor of a story above. Ceilings can ...

detail File:Museu Nacional, UFRJ - Quinta da Boa Vista 10.jpg, Internal details File:Museu Nacional da UFRJ - Quinta da Boa Vista no Rio de Janeiro, Brasil 8.jpg, Walls and ceiling File:Museu Nacional da UFRJ - Quinta da Boa Vista no Rio de Janeiro, Brasil 9.jpg, Ceiling File:Museu Nacional - collaborative upload 164.jpg, Ceiling File:Museu Nacional - collaborative upload 67.jpg, Ceiling File:Museu Nacional da UFRJ - Quinta da Boa Vista no Rio de Janeiro, Brasil 6.jpg, Ceiling File:퀸타 다 보아비스타 20.jpg, Ceiling File:퀸타 다 보아비스타 15.jpg, Ceiling File:Museu Nacional - UFRJ - Exp Sala.jpg, Room File:P 20170503 112251.jpg, Throne of King John VI File:퀸타 다 보아비스타 18.jpg, The former Throne Room File:Sala do Trono - Museu Nacional 03.jpg, Throne Room details and a bust of Emperor Pedro II. On the wall at the right side of the picture, a portrait of King John VI

Grounds

File:Maria Leopoldina com Maria da Glória e Pedro de Alcântara no colo - Quinta da Boa Vista.jpg, Statue of Empress Maria Leopoldina with two of her children File:Quinta da Boa Vista 20.jpg, Monument to Emperor Pedro II in front of the palace File:Quinta da Boa Vista 04.jpg, ''Canto das Sereias'' sculpture by Nicolina Vaz de Assis File:Quinta da Boa Vista 08.jpg, Quinta's bandstand, known as the Chinese pagoda File:Guarda-corpo IV da Ponte da Quinta da Boa Vista - Rio de Janeiro - 20220909155553.jpg, "Temple of Apollo" after restoration work in 2022 File:퀸타 다 보아비스타 08.jpg, Street File:Museu Nacional - collaborative upload 76.jpg, Frontal garden before restoration work File:Museu Nacional - collaborative upload 130.jpg, Internal garden before restoration work File:Museu Nacional da UFRJ - Quinta da Boa Vista no Rio de Janeiro, Brasil 11.jpg, Garden fountain File:Museu Nacional da UFRJ - Quinta da Boa Vista no Rio de Janeiro, Brasil 13.jpg, Bird's-eye view File:Quinta da Boa Vista 03.jpg, Quinta da Boa Vista park lake File:Quinta da Boa Vista 02.jpg, Lake and the palace in the background File:Quinta da Boa Vista 05.jpg, Palace grounds File:Quinta da Boa Vista 07.jpg, Kayaking File:Museu Nacional RJ Brazil.jpg, The palace rear and trees before the 2018 fire. File:Museu Nacional da UFRJ - Quinta da Boa Vista no Rio de Janeiro, Brasil 12.jpg, Vegetation File:Museu Nacional - Rio de Janeiro - 20220909143821.jpg, Fire-damaged facade of the palace completely restored, September 2022. View from the new garden

Investigations

The fire that destroyed the National Museum began in the

air-conditioning Air conditioning, often abbreviated as A/C (US) or air con (UK), is the process of removing heat from an enclosed space to achieve a more comfortable interior temperature, and in some cases, also controlling the humidity of internal air. Air c ...

equipment of

auditorium An auditorium is a room built to enable an audience to hear and watch performances. For movie theaters, the number of auditoriums is expressed as the number of screens. Auditoriums can be found in entertainment venues, community halls, and t ...

on the ground floor. One of the three devices did not have external grounding, there was no individual circuit breaker for each of them and a

wire file:Sample cross-section of high tension power (pylon) line.jpg, Overhead power cabling. The conductor consists of seven strands of steel (centre, high tensile strength), surrounded by four outer layers of aluminium (high conductivity). Sample d ...

was without insulation in contact with metal.

References

Quinta da Boa Vista e Paço de São Cristóvão
Rio de Janeiro Aqui. Retrieved on 2009-07-04.

External links

National Museum of Brazil
official website {{DEFAULTSORT:Paco De Sao Cristovao Neoclassical architecture in Brazil Palaces in Rio de Janeiro (city) Houses completed in 1862 Sao Cristovao, Paco de National Museum of Brazil Burned buildings and structures in Brazil Collapsed buildings and structures Building and structure collapses in 2018