Rio Branco Palace

The Rio Branco Palace (Portuguese: Palácio Rio Branco) is a palace and former seat of government in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. It is one of the oldest palaces in Brazil and dates to 1549. It is located within the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Historic Center of Salvador.

Construction of the palace began in the mid-16th century under Tomé de Sousa, the first governor-general of Brazil, to be used as the center of Portuguese administration. It was later used as a military barracks and prison. It housed Dom Pedro II during his tour of Bahia in 1859. The palace was significantly renovated in 1900 under Luís Viana, Governor of Bahia between 1896 and 1900. It was bombed on January 10, 1912, during the attack of the city of Salvador, under the command of President Hermes da Fonseca. The building suffered significant damage and its rich collection of rare books was completely destroyed.

Reconstruction of the palace began under Governor Antônio Muniz Sodré de Aragão in 1919. The renovated palace was named "Rio Branco" in honor of the Brazilian statesman José Paranhos, Baron of Rio Branco. In this renovation the palace received its ornate Neoclassical façade. The palace was renovated again in 1984. It now houses the Pedro Calmon Foundation and the Memorial of the Governors.

The Rio Branco Palace covers 4,500 square metres (48,000 ft2).

Text adapted from “Rio Branco Palace” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Rio Branco Palace ranks #3,268 of 7,738 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #10 of the 81 mapped in Brazil. Founded 1549, it is older than 41% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 718 atlas entries founded in the 16th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 1,371 times in the last 60 days, more than 57% of the atlas. 11 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. See how Brazil compares in the castle statistics.

View on the interactive castle map →

Read the full history on Wikipedia ↗