The Palace of São João Novo (Portuguese: Palácio de São João Novo) is a palace/residence in the civil parish of Cedofeita, Santo Ildefonso, Sé, Miragaia, São Nicolau e Vitória, in the municipality of Porto, in the Portuguese district of the same name.
| Palace of São João Novo | |
|---|---|
Palácio de São João Novo | |
 An oblique view of the principal facade of the Palace | |
 | |
| General information | |
| Type | Palace |
| Architectural style | Baroque |
| Location | Cedofeita, Santo Ildefonso, Sé, Miragaia, São Nicolau e Vitória |
| Country |  Portugal |
| Coordinates | 41°8′33″N 8°37′4″W / 41.14250°N 8.61778°W |
| Opened | 1747 |
| Owner | Portuguese Republic |
| Technical details | |
| Material | Granite |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect(s) | Nicolau Nasoni |
History
editThe palace was constructed in 1727 by Pedro Costa Lima.[1]
In the 19th century, the palace was expanded, towards the west.[1]
On 15 December 1945, the museum was inaugurated to house regional artefacts and to re-create and display traditional environments, through the initiaties of ethnographer Dr. Pedro Vitorino.[1]
In 1984, a fire destroyed the area occupied by the museum directorate offices.[1]
On 9 August 1991, the museum was placed under the supervision of the Instituto Português de Museus (Portuguese Institute for Museum), by decree 278/91 (Diário da República, Série-1A), but the Museum of Ethnology was closed to the public in 1992.[1]
The building was owned by the descendants of Álvaro Leite Pereira de Melo Ferreira da Silva Pinto in 1994.[1]
The property was transferred into the authority of the Instituto dos Museus e Conservação, I.P. by decree 97/2007 on 29 March 2007.[1]
Architecture
edit.JPG)
The building is flanked by other buildings within the historic centre of Porto. With an ample public space to the north, it is situated on a slight slope, occupied by a few terraces linked by staircases and pedestrian walkways in granite.[1] The western wing is delimited by a portion of the old city walls. Its principal facade is oriented toward the Largo de São João Novo in the northwest.[1]
The three-storey, L-shaped building with its largest facade oriented to the south, and a small wing, towards the west, covered in tiled roof. The southern facade is symmetric and broken on the ground floor by seven sections, aligned on the first and second floors.[1] On the top floor, are seven windows, of which six are surmounted by broken frontispieces, while the central is much higher and flanked by curvilinear scribes.[1] The ground floor has three doors, with the central doorway surmounted by a granite coat-of-arms.[1] The narrow facade of the smaller corp, is oriented to the square, with the top and ground floors, towards the principal facade.[1]
Interior
editThe principal corp is dominated by a central staircase, that occupies (along with the main hall) the entirety of the palace, with two parallel flights that connect the ground floor to the second floor, as well as a unique flight to the third floor.[1] At each floor, the staircase provides a link to the main dependencies on their respective floors, including three great halls.[1]
References
editNotes
edit- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Sereno, Isabel; Guimarães, Maria (2001), SIPA (ed.), Palácio de São João Novo/Museu de Etnografia e História/Museu de Etnologia do Porto (IPA.00001082/PT011312080048) (in Portuguese), Lisbon, Portugal: SIPA – Sistema de Informação para o Património Arquitectónico, retrieved 16 April 2017
Sources
edit- Guia de Portugal (in Portuguese), vol. 4 (IV ed.), Coimbra, Portugal, 1985
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - Porto: do nome Portugal (in Portuguese), Lisbon, Portugal, 1992
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - IPPAR, ed. (1993), Património Arquitectónico e Arqueológico Classificado (in Portuguese), vol. II, Lisbon, Portugal
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - Câmara Municipal, ed. (1993), Porto a Património Mundial (in Portuguese), Porto, Portugal: Câmara Municipal do Porto