Abstract
Um dos exemplares mais discretos do afã construtivo da parentela dos Cruzes, ricos contratadores setecentistas, foi o chamado, enfaticamente, palácio Cruz Alagoa, sito na rua da Escola Politécnica, em Lisboa, próximo do exuberante congénere Seia também conhecido por palácio Bramão.
O inexorável correr dos tempos fez mudar proprietários e arrendatários, na sua maioria gente socialmente compatível com aquela que era considerada uma das zonas residenciais de boa reputação entre os grupos aristocráticos. De figuras da nobreza, a êmulos abastados, de empresários de fósforos, a recinto de diversões, ou residência de um fundador da Companhia das Águas de Lisboa, a casa foi subsistindo até aos dias de hoje, ainda que com inúmeras adulterações e transformações, reconfigurando-a na multiplicidade de usos que teve ao longo da sua história. É essa vivência secular, as gentes que a povoaram e a imagem de alguns dos objetos que dela fizeram parte que se pretende revisitar.
After the 1755 Earthquake in Lisbon it was necessary to rebuild a very damaged town. Many businessmen of humble origin, though enriched by the protection of the Marquis of Pombal, took advantage to build their new homes, with some vanity and aristocratic pretensions. They wanted to emulate the old nobility, whose palaces had been ruined. It was the case of José Francisco da Cruz, one of the three Cruz brothers who jointly held one of the largest commercial monopolies at the time like the Tobacco Rent and they made an important fortune.
He was the son of a former joiner, but after a well succeed cursus honorum he became the 1st Majorat of Alagoa with a new family name, given to him by the King added with a coat of arms (1765), and the title of treasurer general of the royal treasury of Portugal, H.M. Councillor, among other honors.
In 1757 he built casas nobres Cruz (Alagoa), near the Church of S. Mamede, in a street renamed often. After his death the heirs quarrelled, and the new residents of the “manor” changed many times in the early years of the 19th century and half of the next one. Their lives and personality reveal a few surprises.
O inexorável correr dos tempos fez mudar proprietários e arrendatários, na sua maioria gente socialmente compatível com aquela que era considerada uma das zonas residenciais de boa reputação entre os grupos aristocráticos. De figuras da nobreza, a êmulos abastados, de empresários de fósforos, a recinto de diversões, ou residência de um fundador da Companhia das Águas de Lisboa, a casa foi subsistindo até aos dias de hoje, ainda que com inúmeras adulterações e transformações, reconfigurando-a na multiplicidade de usos que teve ao longo da sua história. É essa vivência secular, as gentes que a povoaram e a imagem de alguns dos objetos que dela fizeram parte que se pretende revisitar.
After the 1755 Earthquake in Lisbon it was necessary to rebuild a very damaged town. Many businessmen of humble origin, though enriched by the protection of the Marquis of Pombal, took advantage to build their new homes, with some vanity and aristocratic pretensions. They wanted to emulate the old nobility, whose palaces had been ruined. It was the case of José Francisco da Cruz, one of the three Cruz brothers who jointly held one of the largest commercial monopolies at the time like the Tobacco Rent and they made an important fortune.
He was the son of a former joiner, but after a well succeed cursus honorum he became the 1st Majorat of Alagoa with a new family name, given to him by the King added with a coat of arms (1765), and the title of treasurer general of the royal treasury of Portugal, H.M. Councillor, among other honors.
In 1757 he built casas nobres Cruz (Alagoa), near the Church of S. Mamede, in a street renamed often. After his death the heirs quarrelled, and the new residents of the “manor” changed many times in the early years of the 19th century and half of the next one. Their lives and personality reveal a few surprises.
| Translated title of the contribution | Here was the “Egyptian Forest”: The noble houses Cruz Alagoa. Experiences and residents of an old street in Lisbon (1757-1967) |
|---|---|
| Original language | Portuguese |
| Article number | 2 |
| Pages (from-to) | 47-82 |
| Number of pages | 35 |
| Journal | Cadernos do Arquivo Municipal |
| Issue number | 6 |
| Publication status | Published - 2016 |
Keywords
- Rua Direita da Fábrica das Sedas
- Rua da Escola Politécnica
- Parentela dos Cruz (Sobral e Alagoa)
- “Floresta Egípcia”
- Dr. José Vaz Monteiro
- Cruz Alagoa Family
- Rich Merchants
- Aristocracy
- Lisbon after de Great Earthquake