Manuel da Maia (5 August 1677,

baptised Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost inv ...

– 17 September 1768) was a Portuguese architect, engineer, and archivist. Maia is primarily remembered for his leadership in the reconstruction efforts following the

1755 Lisbon earthquake The 1755 Lisbon earthquake, also known as the Great Lisbon earthquake, impacted Portugal, the Iberian Peninsula, and Northwest Africa on the morning of Saturday, 1 November, Feast of All Saints, at around 09:40 local time. In combination wit ...

, alongside

Eugénio dos Santos Eugénio dos Santos de Carvalho (1711–1760) was a Portuguese architect and military engineer, responsible for the planning and rebuilding of Lisbon's Pombaline Lower Town after the 1755 earthquake. Among other buildings he designed the Lisbon Ci ...

and

Carlos Mardel Carlos Mardel (born Martell Károly; Pressburg; c. 1695 - Lisbon; 8 September 1763) was a Hungarian-Portuguese military officer, engineer, and architect. Mardel is primarily remembered for his role in the reconstruction effort after the 1755 Lisb ...

Career

Maia served as Regent of the ''Aula de Fortificação'', a Lisbon academy for military engineering and architecture. Here he taught King José I of Portugal, when he was

Prince of Brazil Prince of Brazil ( pt, Príncipe do Brasil) was the title held by the heir-apparent to the Kingdom of Portugal, from 1645 to 1815. Tied with the title of Prince of Brazil was the title Duke of Braganza and the various subsidiary titles of the ...

. During his tenure as regent, he also oversaw fortification works throughout the Estremadura province, from 1703 to 1704. On 12 November 1745, Maia was appointed High-Guardian of the

Torre do Tombo The National Archive of Torre do Tombo ( pt, Arquivo Nacional da Torre do Tombo, ) is the Portuguese national archive located in the civil parish of Alvalade, in the municipality of central-northern Lisbon. Established in 1378, it was renamed t ...

, Portugal’s central archive, library, and precious works repository. In 1747, Maia participated in the construction of the new building for the Queen

Leonor of Viseu Eleanor of Viseu (2 May 1458 – 17 November 1525; pt, Leonor de Viseu ) was a Portuguese ''infanta'' (princess) and later queen consort of Portugal. She is considered one of her country's most notable queens consort and one of the only tw ...

Thermal Hospital, in

Caldas da Rainha Caldas da Rainha () is a medium-sized Portuguese city in the Oeste region, in the historical province of Estremadura, and in the district of Leiria. The city serves as the seat of the larger municipality of the same name and of the Comunidad ...

, executing plans made by

. Owing to his successful career by then, Maia was made High-Engineer of the Kingdom, in 1754. Alongside this prestigious position, he was made a general in the Portuguese army and a

Fidalgo ''Fidalgo'' (, ), from Galician and Portuguese —equivalent to nobleman, but sometimes literally translated into English as "son of somebody" or "son of some (important family)"—is a traditional title of Portuguese nobility that refers to a ...

in the Royal Household. Following his appointment, Maia began management on the construction of the

Águas Livres Aqueduct The Águas Livres Aqueduct ( pt, Aqueduto das Águas Livres, , "Aqueduct of the Free Waters") is a historic aqueduct in the city of Lisbon, Portugal. It is one of the most remarkable examples of 18th-century Portuguese engineering. The main ...

, an important public work of the epoch. Following the events of the

, and the city’s almost total destruction, Maia took responsibility for coordinating the reconstruction effort of the city. His and Eugénio dos Santos’ designs for the rebuilt

Lisbon Baixa The Baixa ''(Downtown)'' (), also known as the Baixa Pombalina (''Pombaline Downtown'') is a neighborhood in the historic center of Lisbon, Portugal. It consists of the grid of streets north of the Praça do Comércio, roughly between the Cais ...

are considered some of the earliest enlightened and rational city planning designs in modern Western history.Monumentos - SIPA : Baixa Pombalina / Lisboa Pombalina / Baixa de Lisboa
/ref> Maia was also responsible for saving the contents of the Torre do Tombo, following the earthquake. At 75 years old, Maia personally led the safe-guarding team to São Jorge Castle, where the archives were located, and saved nearly 90,000 pieces, accumulated between 1161 and 1696. He ordered the construction of provisionary barracks to store the contents of the archives and immediately made a request to Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo, King Joseph I’s prime-minister, for a new permanent home for the archives, which would eventually be granted to him in the form of the Convent of São Bento (which now houses the

parliament of Portugal The Assembly of the Republic (Portuguese: ''Assembleia da República'', ), commonly referred to as simply Parliament (Portuguese: ''Parlamento''), is the unicameral parliament of Portugal. According to the Constitution of Portugal, the parliament ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maia, Manuel da Portuguese architects Portuguese engineers Portuguese archivists 17th-century Portuguese people 18th-century Portuguese people 1677 births 1768 deaths People from Lisbon