The heart of D. Pedro IV (I in Brazil) arrived this Monday in Brasilia, on a trip made at the request of the Brazilian government, to be exhibited during the celebration of the bicentenary of the independence of the South American country, on Sept 7th.
The organ, which left Portugal for the first time and arrived in the country in a gold urn, was received at the Brasília Air Force Base with the honor of a head of state and brought under close security to the Itamaraty Palace, the headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Brazil.
Before temporarily traveling to the South American country that gained independence from Portugal in 1822, under the leadership of the monarch who became the first emperor of Brazil, the heart of the “Soldier King”, who arrived in Porto in February 1835 and the mausoleum rarely visited left of the choir of the church of Lapa, was on display to the public during the weekend.
Getting it out of the small mahogany box kept in the mausoleum would require five keys, a thousand worries, and a complex operation.
Preserved in formaldehyde in a glass container, which, in a silver-gilt box, enchanted the heart of D. Pedro I of Brazil and IV of Portugal in two days, 6,294 children and adults from Porto and abroad (3,426 visitors on Saturday and 2,868 on Sunday).
The heart of the monarch, whose body is in the Brazilian city of São Paulo, crossed the Atlantic at night, in a pressurized environment, to attend the commemorations of the bicentenary of Brazil’s independence, a former Portuguese colony that led the king to independence.
In Itamaraty, the relic of “D. Pedro I” will be on display from Thursday as part of the tribute to the country’s 200 years of independence and will return to Portugal on September 8.
On Tuesday, D. Pedro’s heart will be transported at 4:00 PM local time to Palácio do Planalto – seat of the Brazilian Presidency – where a ceremony will take place at 5:00 PM.
After the ceremony, which will be attended by the President of the Republic of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, the heart will return to the Itamaraty Palace, where it will be presented to the diplomatic corps and where it will be on a “controlled” exhibition until the celebrations of the bicentenary of independence, on September 7.
The various ceremonies will be accompanied by the Mayor of Porto, who will chair the Rio Branco Institute on Thursday morning during a lecture entitled “Two peoples united by one heart – the political and symbolic significance of D. Pedro for Portugal and Brazil”.
Despite the mayor’s return to Portugal, the heart of the monarch will be accompanied by the commander of the Porto Municipal Police, António Leitão da Silva.
The heart of D. Pedro returns to the city of Porto on September 9, where it will be seen again on September 10 and 11, before being kept under lock and key again.
Source: El heraldo
John Cameron is a journalist at The Nation View specializing in world news and current events, particularly in international politics and diplomacy. With expertise in international relations, he covers a range of topics including conflicts, politics and economic trends.
