English
Government Palace
Panaji [Panagi/Pangim/Panjim/Nova Goa], Goa, India
Equipment and Infrastructures
In 1510 António de Noronha captured the fortress of Adil Khan, which was burned and rebuilt soon afterward. It was on that site, or on its foundations, that the Palace of the Government-General of the Estado da Índia was built, to be used as military quarters and temporary residence of the viceroys. During the government of Viceroy Jerónimo de Azevedo (1612-17) the palace underwent fareaching construction work. Viceroy Manuel de Saldanha de Albuquerque, Count of Ega (1758-65), was however the first to make the building the seat of government and his official residence, in December 1759, a function the palace maintained until 1918. The respective construction work gave rise to the building we know today. But the numerous renovations of the palace make it hard to be certain about the construction date. In 1827 Denis de Kloguen described the building as having a poor exterior appearance, but with ample and good quality interior divisions. He also noted that besides the residence and seat of government, various public services also functioned here. This situation was maintained over the years: it served as seat of the National Printing Office, the Courts and Registries, the Prosecutor’s Office, the Records Office and a primary school, among others. Available images show how the palace would have looked in the second half of the 19th century. The building had an approximately rectangular form, where the divisions were organised around its two interior patios or facing the outside. On the ground floor, where most services functioned, the divisions were smaller. On the second floor was the official house of the viceroy/governor and the more representative divisions, such as the Dossal Hall where official ceremonies took place. To the north the palace opened to the river. The façade was divided into five sections, two of which had verandas that could be accessed from the most important rooms. On the ground floor was an entrance accessed via the river. For this reason the building was entered from the south in most cases, where after a small atrium area one arrived at the main patio, whence one could access the upper floor. The south façade was marked by a sequence of windows, which on the upper floor were full-length. The chapel that existed on the west side was marked on the façade by a pediment topped by a small cross and was closed at the beginning of the First [Portuguese] Republic. Two possible additions can still be seen: a volume on the north/west side, which makes the northern façade unsymmetrical; and another on the south/east side. Over the course of the second half of the 19th century the palace was constantly referred to as being in a very bad state of preservation, exacerbated by its closeness to the river. This was despite the many renovations undertaken, especially when departments moved into and out of the building spaces, as well as the usual annual repairs done before and after the monsoon. The most fareaching of all these alterations were mainly done in 1887 during the governorship of Augusto Cardoso Carvalho (1886-89); improvements were still being made in early 1889. These efforts included replacement of the wooden beams, demolition of interior walls, replacement of doors, windows and iron grilles, and conversion of the roof, done in 1889. The roof modification, along with construction of the north side veranda in financial year 1901-02 (although there is reference to the construction of a gallery on the north side of the building in financial year 1882-83), definitively modified the Palace’s appearance. Construction work and modifications to the building nevertheless continued to be more occasional. In 1918 the governors’ official residence was shifted to the Cabo Palace. Work continued after 1961. In the 1970s a new wing was added to the east side, with a style similar to that of the old building. In 2004 the seat of Goa’s government moved to new buildings; further renovations have been under way since 2008. Despite these transformations, due to its historic and symbolic meaning and its presence and importance in the city, the Government Palace remains one of Panaji’s most interesting buildings. (ASF)