This Monday (22), the heart of Dom Pedro I ) arrived in Brazil. Brought by the Brazilian Air Force (FAB) from the city of Porto, in Portugal, to Brasília, the organ of the first emperor of our country will be on display at the Itamaraty Palace until September 5th .
Commemorating the bicentennial of the Independence of Brazil, the exhibition may seem a little unusual to many people. But the most interesting thing is that this is not the first time that the remains of the Portuguese royal family ended up here in Brazil — and we will now remember two other occasions when bodies (or parts of them) of the Portuguese nobility returned to our country!
Heart of D. Pedro I arrived in the country to celebrate the bicentennial of Brazilian Independence
The repatriation of Dom Pedro II
The remains mortals of D. Pedro II, the last Brazilian monarch and exiled from the country after the Proclamation of the Republic in 1889, also arrived in Brazil in the past. After his exile, he then returned to France, where he lived until his death, on December 5, 1891.
Decades later, on January 8, 1921, the mortal remains Emperor D. Pedro II and Empress Theresa Cristina, his wife, arrived in ballot boxes in Rio de Janeiro . At the time, several funerals were held and many tributes were paid to the couple, whose urns traveled through the city center and were later exposed at Quinta da Boa Vista.
Remains of D. Pedro I were buried in Teresópolis, Rio de Janeiro, next to the body of Empress Theresa Cristina
The event marked the repatriation of the dead emperor ), who was then buried in the Cathedral of São Pedro de Alcântara, in Petrópolis, Rio de Janeiro, next to Empress Theresa Cristina.
)The return of D. Pedro I in the 70s
The own Dom Pedro I had already returned to our country previously. In 1972, the remains of the Portuguese nobleman were brought here in commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the Independence of Brazil — in addition to the fact that he himself had asked in his will to return to the country after his death.
Having assumed the throne as Emperor of Brazil in 1822, D. Pedro I abdicated from the position in 1931 and returned to Portugal, where he would die three years later. In 1972, to commemorate Independence Day, his remains followed in a procession through Rio de Janeiro , where they received tributes at the Monument to Pracinhas in Aterro do Flamengo, then departing for São Paulo.
Body of D Pedro I came to Brazil in 1972
At the time, part of his bones were exhibited in several cities across the country. Then, his remains were buried in São Paulo, in the imperial crypt located in Independence Park.
Your heart , on the other hand, is still kept in Portugal, in the chancel of the church of Nossa Senhora da Lapa, in the city of Porto. The organ has been preserved in formaldehyde for 187 years and only now, in August 2022, left the European country for the first time in history to revisit Brazilian territory — but will soon return home.
The monarch’s wish before he died, recorded in his will, was that his heart would stay in Porto, the city where he lived for 13 months and where he fought against his brother in the Portuguese Civil War of 1832 .
