Palacio de los López is the official residence of the government and the president of Paraguay . Originally, this palace was the home of President Carlos Antonio López , and then his son, Francisco Solano López .
| Presidential palace | |
| Palace of Lopez | |
|---|---|
| Palacio de los lópez | |
 | |
| A country |  Paraguay |
| City | Asuncion |
| Architectural style | neoclassicism , palladianism |
| Project author | Alonso Taylor |
| Founding date | |
| Building | 1857 - 1867 years |
The palace is located on Independence Street, by the bay in the center of Asuncion . The palace became an object of cultural heritage of Asuncion, on the occasion of the election of the city as the cultural capital of America in 2009 [1] [2] .
Content
History
Construction
In the first half of the XIX century, Lazaro Rojas (of French origin) made heir of his property, the godson Francisco Solano Lopez . After traveling through Europe, Francisco hired several architects, engineers, and technicians who developed building plans for various buildings. One of the most emblematic works was the construction of the private residence of Francisco Solano Lopez . The architectural plan was developed by the architect Francisco Wisner, and began construction by Alonso Taylor in 1857 .
Materials for the construction of the palace came from different parts of the country. For example, stone from the Ambus and Altos stone quarries, forests from Nimbuku and Jaguaron, brick from Takumbu, iron from Ibikui.
Various European artists were invited to Paraguay to decorate the palace. English engineer Owen Mognihan calculated the number of sculptures to create a luxurious superstructure, Italian Andres Antonini created a marble staircase leading to the second floor, French artist Julio Monet painted the ceiling with flower patterns. In 1867 , when the war of the Triple Union began, the Palace of Lopez was almost finished, only some details of decoration were missing. Bronze statues and furniture, brought from Paris, and in the halls of the palace were decorated with large mirrors.
Use
Because of the Triple Union War, Francisco Solano Lopez was forced to move from the capital to the battlefields in Nimbuku. He never lived in his palace. In 1869, Brazilian-Argentine forces bombed the palace, causing damage to it. Later, the Allied forces plundered the palace. Ornaments, statues, mirrors, cabinets and many other valuables were confiscated and taken to Brazil . During the seven years that Asuncion was under occupation, the palace served as the headquarters of the Brazilian armed forces. After these events, the palace was in disrepair.
During the presidency of Juan Gualberto González, the restoration of the palace began. But, in 1894, as a result of the coup, Gonzalez was overthrown and did not live in the palace. His successor, Marcos Morinigo, also did not last long in power, and never lived in a residence. Only in 1894, President Juan Bautista Egukis made López Palace the seat of government. Until the middle of the 20th century , the family of the president also lived there.
Until 1949 , the presidential administration was on the top floor of the building, when the President of the Republic, Felipe Molas Lopez, having difficulty climbing the stairs, decided to move to the office on the first floor. General Alfredo Stroessner ruled the country from this building for more than 35 years and ruled the country from 1954 to 1989 .
At present, a night light show is held near the palace, with the help of which, the palace gets its original color.
In May 2014, an architect from the Ministry of Public Works Gustavo Glavinich stated that termites "destroy wooden structures, floors and protective coatings in some parts of the palace," in particular, its western part is seriously eaten by termites. According to him, the restoration of the palace requires additional investments from the government, otherwise the building is doomed to slow destruction from the inside:
| In 2012, we invested two million dollars to save parts of the palace, placed under the presidential office, military office and ceremonial room. [3] |
Notes
- Pal El Palacio de López es uno de los 7 tesoros culturales
- Ter La Tercera - Asunción elegida Capital Americana de la Cultura 2009 Archive dated October 24, 2008 on the Wayback Machine
- ↑ Termites destroy the presidential palace in Paraguay - BBC Russian - Society