Palacio Santos

Here we are, in front of the Palacio Santos, one of the most representative historical residences in the center of Montevideo. History This mansion was commissioned in 1881 by the then president Máximo Santos as his private residence and inaugurated in 1885. The project was led by civil engineer Juan Alberto Capurro, who designed a neoclassical style building inspired by the Italian Renaissance. Santos lived here with his family until his death in 1889. As the decades passed, the building assumed a relevant institutional role: between 1931 and 1934, during the presidency of Gabriel Terra, it functioned as the headquarters of the Executive Branch and Government House, before the presidential offices returned to the Estévez Palace. In 1975 it was declared a National Historic Monument. Present Since 1955, the palace became the headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Chancellery). Although daily administrative work is carried out mainly in the adjacent annex building, the noble rooms of the Santos Palace are reserved for official receptions, protocol events, the Protocol Directorate and the Diplomatic Historical Archive. At the end of the 90s, an exhaustive restoration process was carried out that recovered original elements such as marquetry floors, decorated plasterwork, stained glass windows and period lamps. Architecture and curiosities…

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