Paço Imperial, Historical museum in Centro district, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Paço Imperial is a baroque colonial museum in Centro, Rio de Janeiro, that once served as the administrative seat of the Portuguese crown. The rectangular building of pale stone rises two stories and encloses two interior courtyards with large windows facing Praça XV.
Construction began around 1738 on the design of military engineer José Fernandes Pinto Alpoim, and the Casa dos Governadores opened in 1743. In 1763 it became the Viceroy's Palace; from 1808 it served as the royal palace of Dom João VI, who added a third floor to the sea-facing facade. Pedro I and Pedro II used it as their workplace, not their residence, until the republic of 1889 turned it into the central post office. IPHAN restored it to its 1818 appearance, completed in 1982.
The building carries a name that recalls its time as an imperial residence and now hosts rotating art exhibitions visited by local artists and casual visitors alike. In the rooms surrounding the inner courtyards, regular cultural events create space for artistic encounters.
The building faces Praça XV de Novembro in central Rio, beside the Carmelite Convent and the Fonte de Mestre Valentim. The Paulo Santos Library, specializing in art, architecture and engineering, holds rare books from the 16th to the 18th centuries. Temporary exhibitions of painting, sculpture, cinema and music occupy the rooms; a bookshop, record shop and restaurant are on site.
The Pátio dos Arqueiros still keeps its original stucco decoration from the 1840s. The building was restored to its 1818 appearance, a task helped by the many 18th- and 19th-century images that depict the palace in detail.
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