The Estaus Palace, from Royal Guest House to Inquisition Palace and Santo Ofício Court

Abstract

Erected on the northern front of the Rossio square, leaning against the Fernandina Wall, the Palace of Estaus evolved over the course of its nearly four centuries of existence, as a construction scaled from being able to accommodate foreign ambassadors, nobles and sometimes the court, to an ecclesiastical complex of judicial and administrative status.
Having been elevated as the headquarters of the Inquisition of Lisbon, it was organized in several structures, such as administrative, prison, housing and others, on a whole that from its foundation was evident in the urban image of Lisbon, not only for its fortress resembling robustness, but also for its powerful symbolism that crossed all of the Modern Age. Destroyed by the earthquake, rebuilt, between multiple identities, in its culmination, was born from the ashes another palace, this time, a symbol of culture, the Teatro D. Maria II.