Once upon a time there was an elegant Palace, built in 1781, where the aristocracy and bons vivants danced, enjoyed lavish banquets and admired new works of art
Once upon a time there was an elegant Palace, built in 1781, where the aristocracy and bons vivants danced, enjoyed lavish banquets and admired new works of art. A different Palace, with its graceful architecture and its history and experience, that hosted a number of irreverent figures associated with curious expressions in Portuguese, such as “farrobodó” and “à grande e à francesa”.
1726
25 NOVEMBER
On 25 November, the original mansion, then owned by Dom Francisco de Paula de Portugal e Castro, 8th Count Vimioso and 2nd Marquis of Valença, the palace was destroyed by a fierce fire.
1777
2 JUNE
On 2 June, Luís Rebelo de Quintela (? -1782), a Judge of the highest courts in the country, bought land from the Brotherhood of the Sacramento, in the parish of Encarnação, now occupied by the 1st, 2nd and part of the 3rd property on Rua do Alecrim, as well as part of the Cordoaria Nova and Cavalariças da Casa Real situated within the Fernandine walls, with 44.66 m frontage and 47.52 m at the back, as far as Rua do Tesouro (now Rua António Maria Cardoso), which included the ruins of the mansion.
1801
11 DECEMBER
The future 2nd Baron of Quintela and 1st Conde of Farrobo, christened Joaquim Pedro de Quintela, was born in the mansion on Rua do Alecrim, on 11 December. Despite his importance in political, social and cultural life in Portugal at the time, he will always be remembered for his excesses and revels. And intrinsically associated with the Palace is the famous Portuguese expression “farrobodó”.
1807
11 DECEMBER
Junot inspired the expression “à grande à francesa” (in great style). For nine months, the duration of the first French invasion, General Junot (1771-1813) established his headquarters, as well as his official residence, at Quintela Palace. Portugal was devastated by the French troops, who committed great atrocities. But Junot, indifferent to the poverty and misery the invaders also caused in Lisbon, moved into the Quintela Palace, on Rua do Alecrim, where he live in shameless luxury, “à grande e à francesa”.
1808
MARCH
The Dukes of Abrantes, Junot and his wife Laure Permond, organised parties and balls at the Quintela Palace, the most ostentatious of which was to celebrate Epiphany.
1822
APRIL
Significant enlargement of the palace, directed by the architect Joannes Baptista Hilbrath. Also involved in this project were the plasterer Félix Salla, the decorator Giuseppe Cinatti (1808-1879) and the painters António Manuel da Fonseca (1796-1890) and Cirilo Volkmar Machado (1748-1823). The construction of tunnels that allegedly lead to the Teatro de São Carlos and to Cais do Sodré date from this period.
1828
MAY
In 1828, long before airbnb, the owners already did business with the palace and it was rented to the French Consul.
1832
15 MARCH
A decree issued by Dom Miguel, on 15 March, stripped Joaquim Pedro Quintela of all his titles, privileges and rights, forcing him to flee to an English ship anchored in the Tagus to avoid imprisonment. The Union Jack was raised over the palace to prevent it from be sacked by miguelistas. The Baron had supported the cause of Dom Pedro IV with a loan of 30,000 pounds sterling, which is why Dom Miguel decreed that he had 24 hours to leave Lisbon. He was forced to sell all his properties to his friend Lord William Russell, taking refuge, under the name of Mr. Smith, at the home of Diogo Carlos Duff, another English friend.
1869
24 SEPTEMBER
The 1st Count of Farrobo, Joaquim Pedro de Quintela, died on 24 September, in his residence on what was then called Calçada do Alecrim. Following the bankruptcy of Quintela-Farrobo, the palace was rented out, but never lost its class. In 1873 and 1874, it housed the Grémio Literário (Literary Guild).
1874
OCTOBER
Following a long court case that lasted three decades and led to the collapse of the Quintela-Farrobo empire, the palace on Calçada do Alecrim was put up for public auction. It was bought by the capitalist Francisco Augusto Mendes Monteiro, who had immigrated to Brazil, where he married Ana Thereza Carolina de Carvalho, also a Portuguese emigrant, who inherited a large family fortune from her parents, built by her maternal grandfather who had had a monopoly of the trade in coffee, precious stones and sea transport between Brazil and Portugal.
Francisco Augusto Mendes Monteiro’s son, António Augusto Carvalho Monteiro, the famous “Monteiro dos Milhões” (Monteiro the Millionaire), the heir to a great fortune, came to Portugal with his parents when he was still young. He married Perpétua Augusta Carvalho Monteiro, returned to Brazil and then came back to live in Portugal in 1876. He set up home in the Quintela Palace Farrobo, at Rua do Alecrim, 70, the palace that his father Francisco Augusto had bought from the heirs of the Baron of Quintela and Conde Farrobo. A cultured and eccentric figure, he carried out the last major artistic alterations to the palace. Perhaps inspired by his construction of the remarkable Quinta da Regaleira in Sintra. The requests he made of the Italian architect Luigi Manini were numerous and incredible, including the order that the gate to his tomb in the Cemitério dos Prazeres, also full of symbolism, be opened with the same key that opened Quinta da Regaleira and his palace on Rua do Alecrim in Lisbon. António Augusto Carvalho Monteiro kept in this palace his library and valuable collections of art (painting, sculpture, iconography, gold and silver, clocks and watches, etc.) and of natural science (entomology, malacology (invertebrates), ornithology, herbarium, etc.). His collection of Lepidoptera, the 2nd largest in the world, consisted of many thousands of species, some collected by António Augusto Carvalho Monteiro himself. His collection of invertebrates included approximately 10,000 species. The herbarium was considered invaluable and his collection of hummingbirds was also important.
The pavements in the streets of AACM’s properties in Lisbon (and indeed in Quinta da Regaleira) are decorated with hexagrams in basalt on a white background.
1915
The Museu Instrumental Português was housed in Quintela Palace. Its collection consists of approximately five hundred musical instruments. The collection was significantly increased by instruments collected by Alfredo Keil and others from the Lambertini collection (acquired by Carvalho Monteiro), as well as other donations and deposits. Michel’angelo Lambertini was the curator of the Museu Instrumental Português until it was acquired by the Conservatório Nacional (National Conservatory), in 1931.
1923
According to the division of his estate, that property was passed on to his son, Pedro Augusto de Carvalho Monteiro, and Quintela Palace, with a property value of 630 contos, was inherited by his daughter, Maria de Melo de Carvalho Monteiro.
1927
18 APRIL
Maria da Nazaré Monteiro de Almeida married Sebastião José de Carvalho Daun e Lorena – 8th Marquis of Pombal (1903-1965), on 18 April. They had two children, Francisco de Carvalho Daun e Lorena (1928-1929) and Manuel Sebastião de Almeida de Carvalho Daun e Lorena (1930).
1929
Maria de Melo Carvalho Monteiro died and the palace passed on to her daughter, Maria da Nazaré Monteiro de Almeida, who had married the 8th Marquis of Pombal.
1930
Manuel Sebastião de Almeida de Carvalho Daun e Lorena, great-grandson of António Carvalho Monteiro and the future 9th Marquis of Pombal, was born and christened in the palace.
1970
At the end of Augusto Ataíde’s contract, part of Quintela Palace was leased to IADE. The Instituto de Arte e Decoração – Escola Internacional de Decoradores moved here from Rua das Flores. The teachers and staff at IADE included many eminent figures in Portuguese arts: Lima de Freitas, Manuel Lapa, Manuel Costa Martins, Manuel da Costa Cabral, Rafael Salinas Calado, Eduardo Nery, António Pedro, Egídio Álvaro, João Vieira, Keil do Amaral, Artur Rosa, Júlio Gil, Jorge Viana, Manuel Rio de Carvalho, António de Macedo, Fernando Garcia, Jorge Listopad, Artur Anselmo, Henrique Tavares e Castro, etc., as well as renowned international designers, including Bruno Munari, John David Bear and Claude Ternat.
2014
Quintela Palace has been reborn in the hands of three partners who realised that it was a unique business opportunity, where they could develop an original concept never before attempted in the capital. It was a challenging and lengthy project due to a number of conditioning factors, taking more than a year and a half to be completed, supported by excellent partnerships.
The first priority was to restore the paintwork and stained glass, maintaining the original characteristics, remaining true to the palace’s historical past. The architect, Frederico Valsassina, conceived a design in which classical and modern are harmoniously combined. The decoration was designed by the architect Catarina Cabral, who sought pieces in a restrained and timeless style to be integrated into the atmosphere of the palace without overwhelming the grandeur of its details and frescos.
2016
The story of this elegant palace will now resume in 2016 as a place to escape from everyday routines, in an extravagant escape from the banal.
In the renewed Palácio Chiado, the historic rooms will now host alternatives for fine dining and other forms of entertainment for Lisbon residents and visitors. As an outstanding cosmopolitan venue in the city, it is a timeless blend of history and modern life.
2018
Renovation is the key-word when talking about Palácio Chiado. In September of 2018, Palácio Chiado goes under a few refurbishment works and reopens in October, with new gastronomic concepts, albeit with the same diversity and originality it has always had. With exquisite gastronomic and artistic curatorships, this is the FOOD & ART spot of Lisbon.
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