The facade
Window reliefs.
Mateus Hidalgo — CC BY-SA 2.5 br · Mateus Hidalgo — CC BY-SA 2.5 br · Prburley — CC BY 4.0 · Prburley — CC BY 4.0 · Prburley — CC BY 4.0 · Prburley — CC BY 4.0 · Khedna — CC BY-SA 4.0
The House of the Baron of Melgaço is a building in Cuiabá, Mato Grosso, built in 1775–1777 according to maps of the time, though other sources date its opening to 1802, when Augusto João Manoel Leverger, Baron of Melgaço, took it over and lived there until his death in 1880. In the late 19th century river navigation brought improvements by European builders, and the facades of the old colonial houses, this one included, were changed: eaves were removed and replaced by parapets, fluted pilasters were added and doors and windows were framed. Its hallmarks are the facade and the reliefs around its large wooden windows, its thinner adobe walls and its colonial roof. The state expropriated it in 1926 and in 1931 gave it as the seat of the Historical and Geographical Institute and the Mato Grosso Academy of Letters. It is an important record of the homes of Brazil's elite of that period; check whether it can be visited.
Window reliefs.
Until 1880.
Cuiabá.
Rua Barão de Melgaço, central Cuiabá
Historic Centre of CuiabáThe historic centre of Cuiabá, capital of Mato Grosso, is an area protected by t3 minutes walk4.0
Palácio da Instrução (Cuiabá)The Palace of Instruction is a protected historic building in Cuiabá's historic 5 minutes walk4.4
Chafariz do MundéuThe Mundéu Fountain, originally the Fountain of the Largo da Conceição, is a pub8 minutes walk4.9
Museu da Caixa d'Água Velha (Rei da Água)The Manoel do Espírito Santo «Rei da Água» Museum, known as the Old Water Tank H10 minutes walk4.3
SESC ArsenalSESC Arsenal is a cultural centre in Cuiabá's old military arsenal. King João VI22 minutes walk4.9Augusto Leverger, who lived in the house until his death in 1880.