The Catete Palace (, ) is an urban

mansion A mansion is a large dwelling house. The word itself derives through Old French from the Latin word ''mansio'' "dwelling", an abstract noun derived from the verb ''manere'' "to dwell". The English word ''manse'' originally defined a property l ...

in the

Flamengo Clube de Regatas do Flamengo (; ), more commonly referred to as simply Flamengo, is a Brazilian multi sports club based in Rio de Janeiro, in the neighborhood of Gávea. It was founded and named after the Flamengo, Rio de Janeiro, Flamengo n ...

neighborhood of

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. The property stretches from ''Rua do Catete'' (Catete Street) to ''Praia do Flamengo'' ( Flamengo Beach). Construction began in 1858 and ended in 1867. It was Brazil's

presidential palace A presidential palace is the official residence of the president in some countries. Some presidential palaces were once the official residences to monarchs in former monarchies that were preserved during those states' transition into republics. ...

from 1897 to 1960, and the site of

Getúlio Vargas Getúlio Dornelles Vargas (; ; 19 April 1882 – 24 August 1954) was a Brazilian lawyer and politician who served as the 14th and 17th president of Brazil, from 1930 to 1945 and from 1951 until his suicide in 1954. Due to his long and contr ...

' suicide. It now houses the ''Museu da República'' (Republic Museum) and a theatre. The Catete underground rail station is adjacent.

History

The building was built as the residence of the family of the Portuguese-born Brazilian coffee producer António Clemente Pinto, Baron of

Nova Friburgo Nova Friburgo (; ; ), commonly referred to as just Friburgo, is a List of municipalities in Rio de Janeiro, municipality in the state of Rio de Janeiro (state), Rio de Janeiro in southeastern Brazil. It is located in the mountainous region, in th ...

, in the then capital of the

Empire of Brazil The Empire of Brazil was a 19th-century state that broadly comprised the territories which form modern Brazil and Uruguay until the latter achieved independence in 1828. The empire's government was a Representative democracy, representative Par ...

. It was called the Palace of Largo Valdetaro and Palace of

. With the design of German architect Carl Friedrich Gustav Waehneldt, dated 1858, the work began with the demolition of the old house. The construction officially ended in 1866, but the finishing works still continued for over a decade. After the death of the Baron and the Baroness, their son Antônio Clemente Pinto Filho, the Count of São Clemente, sold the property in 1889, shortly before the Proclamation of the Republic of Brazil, to an investor group, who founded the ''Companhia Grande Hotel Internacional'' (Grande Hotel Internacional Company). This development, however, did not succeed in turning the palace into a luxury hotel. Due to the economic crisis in the late 1880s and early 1890s (The ''

Encilhamento The Encilhamento was an economic bubble that boomed in the late 1880s and early 1890s in Brazil, bursting during the early years of the First Brazilian Republic (1889–1894) and leading to an institutional and a financial crisis. Two Financ ...

''), the venture went bankrupt, and its titles acquired by counselor Francisco de Paula Mayrink. Five years later, Mayrink paid off debts to the

Bank of Brazil Banco do Brasil S.A. (, ) is a Brazilian financial services company headquartered in Brasília, Brazil. The oldest bank in Brazil, and among the oldest banks in continuous operation in the world, it was founded by John VI, King of Portugal, on ...

. The seat of the executive branch of Brazil was the Itamaraty Palace in Rio de Janeiro. In 1897, President Prudente de Morais became ill and Vice President Manuel Vitorino took office as interim. He acquired the Catete Palace and over there installed the seat of government. Officially, the palace was the seat of the

Federal Government A federation (also called a federal state) is an entity characterized by a political union, union of partially federated state, self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a #Federal governments, federal government (federalism) ...

from 1897 until 1960, when the capital and the Federal District were transferred to

Brasília Brasília ( ; ) is the capital city, capital of Brazil and Federal District (Brazil), Federal District. Located in the Brazilian highlands in the country's Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West region, it was founded by President Juscelino ...

. Various historical events happened in the palace halls, such as the death of President Afonso Pena in 1909; the signing of the declaration of war against the

German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

and its allies in 1917, during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

; the visit and hosting of Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli, the future

Pope Pius XII Pope Pius XII (; born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli; 2 March 18769 October 1958) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death on 9 October 1958. He is the most recent p ...

, in 1934; the declaration of war against the

Axis An axis (: axes) may refer to: Mathematics *A specific line (often a directed line) that plays an important role in some contexts. In particular: ** Coordinate axis of a coordinate system *** ''x''-axis, ''y''-axis, ''z''-axis, common names ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

in 1942; the suicide of President

in 1954, with a shot in the heart, in his bedroom on the third floor of the palace; among others.

Gallery

File:Palacio Catete-1897.jpg, Main façade of the Catete Palace with statues of the

Muses In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, the Muses (, ) were the Artistic inspiration, inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the poetry, lyric p ...

at the top, 1897. File:Palácio do Catete 1909.jpg, The palace during the funeral of President Afonso Pena, 15 June 1909 File:Museu da República.jpg, The main staircase of the former Presidential Palace File:Museu reublica salao ministerial.jpg, The Ministerial Room File:Quarto de Getúlio Vargas 01.jpg, President Vargas' bedroom File:Palácio do Catete0015.JPG, Allegorical sculpture File:Palácio do Catete0054.JPG, Statue on the lake File:Jardins do Palácio do Catete (2).jpg, Palace grounds

History

Gallery

See also