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Trienal de Arquitectura de Lisboa
© Nova SBE

Henrique de Mendonça Palace

  • Original Authors:
  • Miguel Ventura Terra
  • (1902)

Designed between 1900 and 1902 for Henrique José Monteiro de Mendonça, a coffee producer in Sao Tome e Principe, this building of eclectic language was finished in 1909, the same date it was awarded with the Valmor Prize. The palace is composed of three volumes: one central, which stands out, and two lateral, attached at the ground floor by two rectangular structures. In the central volume, the remarkable u-shaped staircase in the lobby forms a balcony in front of a gallery made of three round arches in neo-renaissance style. Inside, one should highlight the lobby under a glass dome — displaying very particular scenography and monumentality — and the staircase that allows for access to the noble floor. The interior space is designed in a neo-rococo decorative theme, shown in the stuccos and mirrors of the Louis XV Room. The garden is kept protected from the street by a fence whose cast iron railing is designed in Art Nouveau style. In 2016, it was acquired by the Aga Khan Foundation and it will be the new global headquarters of the Ismaili Community. The rehabilitation project is by architect Frederico Valsassina and should be concluded during 2019. The palace and its gardens were classified as an Ensemble of Public Interest in 1982.

Address
Rua Marquês de Fronteira, 18
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Typology
Palaces and Convents

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