Palacete de Belomonte

Palacette of Belomonte
Palacete de Belomonte
The front facade of the Belomonte
General information
Type	Palacette
Architectural style	Baroque
Location	Cedofeita, Santo Ildefonso, Sé, Miragaia, São Nicolau e Vitória
Country	Portugal
Coordinates	41°8′33″N 8°36′58″W / 41.14250°N 8.61611°W / 41.14250; -8.61611
Opened	18th century
Owner	Portugal
Technical details
Material	Granite

The Palacette of Belomonte (Portuguese: Palacete de Belomonte/Palácio de Belomonte/Casa dos Pacheco Pereira) is a former-residence on Rua de Belomonte, in the civil parish of Cedofeita, Santo Ildefonso, Sé, Miragaia, São Nicolau e Vitória, in the northern Portuguese city of Porto.

Up until the 18th century, the building functioned as the Colégio de São Sebastião (College of São Sebastião), and the Banco Aliança.^[1]

The current building was constructed in the 18th century.^[1]

By the middle of the 19th century, it was one of the principal meeting places associated with the Portuense high society.^[1] Following the death of João Pacheco Pereira (then owner) the building was obtained by collateral line of the family, but with time, fell into decline.^[1]

In 1888, the residence was bought by the Companhia de Ferro Através de África (Iron Company Through Africa), and the family coat-of-arms was removed, to be replaced by a royal coat-of-arms.^[1]

The building is flanked by a three- and two-storey building, located with a long narrow area between the Rua de Belomonte and Rua do Comércio do Porto., near the Palace of São João Novo.^[1] The long symmetrical, rectangular Baroque manorhouse is marked by a two-storey frontispiece and Mansard roof, with undulating cornices and sculpted granite stone.^[1]

The long building consists of a simple volume covered in Mansard and roof tile, with its principal facade oriented towards the roadway.^[1] This facade is oriented towards the north, consisting of a symmetric and subdivided form in five parts, divided by six pilasters. On the extremes of the building are accented doorways, surmounted by coat-of-arms and oculi, broken by granite cornices that run the length of the building.^[1] The ground floor consists of rounded window door, repeated above by windows topped with undulating forms.^[1] Over the Mansard roof are six pinnacles in masonry aligned by pilasters.^[1] The rear facade is circled by a long, wide varanda between the two corps, while the front facade includes several varandas with ironwork over plinths in granite and surmounted by pinnacles.^[1]

The interior space includes a rectangular entranceway with slabs and granite staircase with balustrades.^[1] Over the staircase is an elliptic candelabra, surrounded by stucco walls decorated in carved flourishes.^[1] The ceiling of the entranceway in wood leads to rooms that plastered and decorated with paintings.^[1]

• Guia de Portugal (in Portuguese), vol. IV, Coimbra, Portugal, 1985{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• Porto a Património Mundial (in Portuguese), Porto, Portugal, 1993{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• Quaresma, Maria Clementina de Carvalho (1995), Inventário Artístico de Portugal. Cidade do Porto (in Portuguese), Lisboa, Portugal{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)