Villa Ferreira Lage
Hosted the emperor.
Rodrigo Tetsuo Argenton — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Rodrigo.Argenton — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Rodrigo Tetsuo Argenton — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Rodrigo.Argenton — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Rodrigo.Argenton — CC BY-SA 4.0
The Mariano Procópio Museum is a museum of art, history and natural science in Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais, founded by Alfredo Ferreira Lage in 1915: the first museum in the state and the third in Brazil, with about 45,000 items. It comprises two buildings, the Villa Ferreira Lage, built between 1856 and 1861, and an annex put up in 1922 for the museum. Its story is tied to the «União e Indústria» road, Brazil's first macadam road, opened in 1861 to link Juiz de Fora with Petrópolis. The engineer in charge, Mariano Procópio, built the villa to host Emperor Pedro II and the imperial family on their visits, surrounded by a broad park with a lake and a wide variety of Brazilian plants. Its collections include paintings, furniture, weapons, objects of the imperial era and natural science. The museum and park closed for more than three months after the February 2026 rains and reopened on 2 June 2026; guided visits are booked in advance, so check times.
Hosted the emperor.
Brazilian plants.
Paintings, furniture.
Mariano Procópio district, Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais
It reopened on 2 June 2026 after closing for the February rains; guided visits are booked in advance.
