Lauro Sodré Palace

In 1754, during the Pombaline period, Friar Miguel de Bulhões, replacing Governor Mendonça Furtado, requested an inspection of the Government Palace, which indicated the need to use propping to prevent it from collapsing. In 1757, unable to remain in the building, the administration of the captaincy reports to the Court the relocation to a rented house. In 1759, Governor Manuel Bernardo Mello de Castro communicates to the Court the situation of the palace and requests an inspection by the Kingdom's technicians, of which the architect Antônio Landi and the engineers Galluzie and Manuel Mendes were part. The commission certifies the state of ruin in which the building was in and suggests its demolition with the use of some tiles and pieces of wood.[4][3]

The governor then asks Landi for a project of a "decent house without superfluities", stating that the building must not be at great expense, and submits it to the Court. In 1761, still without a reply, the governor addressed the king, sending a new floor plan elaborated by Landi. The first proposal consisted of a drawing with a facade and a cross section. In the cross section are identified: an entrance portico with an upper terrace behind the facade, a main access atrium with vaulted roof and a staircase developed in a vaulted space. The facade, horizontal and symmetrical, shows two floors and an exposed roof with eaves, set on a cornice. The second project shows a floor plan, the main facade, identical to the previous project, and a longitudinal section. In this version, the floor plan shows a central inner courtyard, surrounded by arcades in the Italian cortile style.[3]

With the project's approval, Captain-General Fernando da Costa Athaide Teive asked Landi for a new project with more "impact" so that the house could be up to the level of the governors and captains who lived there. Faced with such a request, in 1767, the project was reformulated aiming at the large scale that is presented until today.[5]

In 1768, construction began under the direction of the mason Jerônimo da Silva. It was necessary to purchase three adjacent lots for the building to achieve the desired size. The work on the palace was completed in 1771, but it was only occupied the following year by João Pereira Caldas.[3]

The palace was modified over the years, but the structure remained the same. After the proclamation of the republic, there was a movement to remove symbols that marked the monarchy, so the building was redecorated in the republican manner and received its current name in honor of Governor Lauro Sodré, the first after the proclamation.[6]