On International Monuments and Sites Day, marked on 18 April, the Soares dos Reis National Museum is organising a guided tour in Portuguese of the Carrancas Palace, where it is located, which has been classified as a Property of Public Interest since 1934.
The building was the scene of major events in the city in the first half of the 19th century, such as the French Invasions and the Siege of Porto, and from 1861 it was the residence of the royal family in Porto.
The Carrancas Palace began to be built in 1795 as the home and factory of the Moraes e Castro family, owners of the Gold and Silver Yarn Factory, in Rua dos Carrancas. The Palace’s name dates back precisely to the former location of this wealthy Porto business family.
Although it has been reused in different ways over the years, the original design remains the same, and does not stray too far from the original project, attributed to Joaquim da Costa Lima Sampaio. The Palácio dos Carrancas is part of the neoclassical trend that would mark Porto’s civil architecture at the end of the 18th century with the construction of the Hospital de Santo António, progressing significantly into the 19th century with buildings such as the Alfândega Nova, among others.
International Monuments and Sites Day was created by the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) on 18 April 1982, and approved by UNESCO the following year, with the aim of raising awareness of the diversity and vulnerability of heritage, as well as the need for its protection and enhancement.
By celebrating our national heritage, we are also commemorating international solidarity around the knowledge, safeguarding and valorisation of heritage around the world.
In 2024, the theme proposed by ICOMOS International is “Disasters and conflicts in the light of the Venice Charter”, which proposes a look at the past, as a way of reflecting on shared heritage and the challenges facing us today and in the future.