Appeal's Court and Jail

Twenty years later, the space was already insufficient and the Appeal Judges were pressing for the construction of a new building to house both the Court and the Jail. The building was installed below the door of Olival, between Rua das Taipas and Rua de S. Miguel, fostering the recovery of this area, which started with the construction of the Monastery of S. Bento da Vitória.

The costs of the work were covered by municipal funds (48% of the total) and the Court's own revenue (the remaining 52%).

Work began in October 1607 and, although it is not known for certain when it was completed, it is accepted that the Court was already operating in 1609.

Although it was considered, at the time, a very qualified building, the Court and Jail of the Court of Appeal turned out to be of a fragile construction. Since 1752 and especially after the earthquake of November 1, 1755, and until 1797, the sessions of the Court were held in various locations, while a new building was not built: Casa da Câmara; Hospício de Santo António, in Cordoaria; and Monteiro Moreira Palace.

The new building was erected on the same site from 1766, with a project by the architect Eugénio dos Santos e Carvalho. The first solemn session was held there on January 7, 1797.

Although the Jail remained in operation until the 1970s of the 20th century, the Court abandoned the building several decades earlier, considering structural deficiencies in the property.

Lease contract signed on November 3, 1936 for the Visconde Pereira Machado Palace, located at Rua Formosa 111 to 131, Porto, to install the Court of Appeal of Porto.

This procedure was initiated in view of a statement by the Public Prosecutor of the Court of Appeal of Porto, in which he referred to the dispersion of the judicial services of this Court through various buildings, located at a relative distance from each other and the difficulties in the supervision of services.

© Court of Appeal of Porto / Ancient Library Collection