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GPS 41.58878916445875, -8.428279998309838

Dona Chica Castle, also referred to as Palmeira Castle, Casa da Chica or Palácio da Dona Chica, is located in the parish of Palmeira, municipality of Braga, district of the same name, in Portugal.

It is a palatial building, with eclectic features in a romantic style, designed by the Swiss architect Ernesto Korrodi.

It was classified as a Property of Public Interest by Order of February 20, 1985.

History

Its construction began in 1915, on the initiative of Francisca Peixoto de Sousa, born in Brazil, who ordered many of the tree species currently found in the surrounding forest to come from her country.

The works were interrupted in 1919, when Francisca separated from her husband.

Throughout its history, it changed ownership several times, with construction taking place over decades, only being completed in 1991, adapted to a restaurant and bar.

During a legal dispute over its ownership, the property fell into a state of abandonment and degradation.

In 2023 it will be transformed into a hotel with 10 accommodation units, a single room, seven double rooms and two suites. The hotel integrates food and beverage services with the installation of two spaces located on different floors dedicated to two styles of gastronomy – bistro, that is, a small restaurant/bar, where alcoholic drinks, coffee, as well as snacks and simple foods are served. – and the restaurant itself – providing a meal service.

The legal dispute

Having been acquired by the Parish Council of Palmeira, in 1990, for around 95 thousand Euros, the municipality leased it under contract to a tourism company, IPALTUR. This, in turn, carried out improvements, adapting the property's facilities to a leisure area, with a bar, nightclub, restaurant and meeting and congress rooms.

With the municipality's "agreement", IPALTUR mortgaged the property for 750 thousand Euros with Caixa Geral de Depósitos. Under the agreement, for ten years the municipality would not receive rent.

In 1994, IPALTUR went into bankruptcy. Thus, the property was sold at public auction, in 1998, to Caixa Geral de Depósitos, for 1,500 thousand Euros. The financial institution, in this way, managed to recover part of its credit, but around twenty other creditors continued to be unable to recover their amounts.

In 2001, the Braga court determined that CGD must pay 2,250 thousand Euros to other creditors in respect of the improvement works carried out by the bankrupt IPALTUR on the property. This decision, in November 2002, was annulled by the Court of Appeal of Guimarães, which was confirmed by the Supreme Court of Justice in June 2003.

The property was purchased in 2010 by a real estate businessman who sold it again in 2019.

Characteristics

The building consists of four floors. It develops in a very accentuated game of volumes and is characterized by a wide diversity of materials and languages, mixing popular and erudite references, in an extravagant eclecticism where neo-Gothic, neo-Arabic and "rustic" styles are mixed.

Isolated, the volumes have their own image and establish connections through some bridges (materials and decorative elements). The analysis of construction details highlights the importance given to the image, to the detriment of a construction method. The windows are made indifferently of wood or iron, or even made with both materials, making it difficult to know whether they follow a project for the execution of the work or whether, once the image was initially defined by the architect Korrodi, the constructive solution would be the responsibility of the different artists. / artisans who executed them. Iron is also used in the railing, crowning the roof and the weather vane. The repetition of the "ivy leaf" as a decorative element, simultaneously in the design of the iron railings and in some marble frames, coexists with the application of different floral motifs, in the capitals of the different colonnades and with the geometric rose windows, in the closures of the arches. warheads.

The tiles are "signed" by the designer. Colored in green they aim to integrate into the landscape that the rest of the building refuses.

The surrounding forest is characterized by exotic vegetation (Brazilian almond tree, Brazilian rosewood, Brazilian pine, palm tree, eucalyptus, Japanese trees and others) and many national varieties (oak, plane trees, cedars, maritime pine, chestnut trees, willows, mimosas, cork oaks and others), with winding routes. The lake complex, with a cave with false stalactites, stands out, reflecting a romantic vision, which intended to imitate the medieval period, reproducing nature, preferring the "forest" to the geometric baroque garden.

Chronology

• 1915 - Project by Swiss architect, Ernesto Korrodi, commissioned by João José Ferreira Rego;

• 1919 - Work suspended, at a stage in which the interior of the building was limited to its fundamental structures; unfinished, the works cost, at the time, 370 contos de réis;

• 1938 - The property was sold, for 165 contos, to an English nobleman who later resold it, for 80 contos de réis, to the bookkeeper of the Count of Vizela, Alberto Torres de Figueiredo. Francisco Joaquim Alves de Macedo acquired the property and began works inside, without any recovery project, in an attempt to reactivate the ideal of the previous owners. This attempt was frustrated due to multiple disagreements that arose during the work, particularly with the local authority. In this way, what little was left of the interior decorative elements, mainly in terms of ceramics (tiles, bricks and tiles), was destroyed, leaving no traces left for a possible replacement of these pieces, some, according to references from older people, of great interest. artistic, in addition to the removal of all wood, the structuring base of all floors;

• 20th century (second half) - Acquired by the Parish Council of Palmeira, which concessions the property to IPALTUR, Investimentos Turísticos, S.A. through a long-term, renewable contract;

• 1985, February 20th - Classification order, with approval as a Property of Public Interest (IIP);

• 1992 - Adaptation, described as transformation, into a cultural and recreational space, as well as a restaurant and other social and hotel services, with a project by architect Paulo Tonet;

• 1992, November - Joaquim Costa, manager of IPALTUR, transfers the palace to the company "Veloso - Empreendimentos Turísticos e Residencials", with a view to paying an alleged debt, which was not accepted by the remaining creditors;

• 1993 - IPALTUR's bankruptcy filing was proposed by Caixa Geral de Depósitos, the company's main creditor, and the fate of the property was uncertain, as it had been mortgaged;

• 1998 - Property acquired by Caixa Geral de Depósitos;

• 2004 - Caixa Geral de Depósitos sold the property at public auction for around two million euros to the real estate agency Europovoa – Construções e Imobiliária, Lda. based in Póvoa do Varzim and led by José Campos.

• 2006 - The property was for sale.

• 2008 - The property was for sale at a price of €2,250,000.00. 2009 - The property was for sale at a price of €2,500,000.00.

• 2013 - The property is classified as a monument of public interest, by order of the Secretary of State for Culture, a decision that confirms that it is “a cultural value of national importance” and whose definitive deterioration represents “serious damage to cultural heritage” . The decision places the also designated Palmeira Castle in an extensive Special Protection Zone.

• 2014 - It is acquired by a businessman from Póvoa de Varzim (PMA Construções).

• 2017 - The property was for sale at a price of €1,250,000.00

• 2019 - The castle was sold to two brothers, one emigrated to the United States and the other residing in Portugal, who intend to carry out some adaptation works in the surrounding space, to transform it into a place to hold events.

• 2022 - Announced that the owners are preparing a project to convert the building to tourism, with several features, including that of a charming hotel.

• 2023 - The project was approved and work began on a project by the company Magalhães & Rocchio, Lda, from Cossourado, Barcelos with architectural design by AtelierArq.

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