The bronze lions
At the entrance.
MTur Destinos — Public domain · MTur Destinos — Public domain · MTur Destinos — Public domain · Prburley — CC BY 4.0
The Palácio dos Leões is the seat of Maranhão's state government, on the headland above the bay where São Luís was born. Its story begins on 8 September 1612, when the French built a fort here; from 1626 it became the governors' residence, changing greatly over the centuries until a full restoration completed in 2003. Two bronze lions flank its entrance, and they gave it its name in a curious way: in the 1920s a local newspaper compared the lion's appetite with the government's appetite for taxes, and the nickname Lions' Palace caught on until it became the official name. One wing holds a museum open to the public free of charge, with furniture, paintings and treasures from the state's history, and its balconies look out over the bay and the old city.
At the entrance.
The state's history.
Over the bay.
Avenida Dom Pedro II, on the headland above the bay, São Luís
After the two lions at its entrance; the name spread in the 1920s when a local paper compared the lion's appetite with the government's appetite for taxes.
