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Páteo de São Miguel’ is the name given to an urban complex in Évora made up of a number of buildings from diverse periods (16th to 20th centuries). The most important structures are the Condes de Basto Palace, São Miguel Church, the Library and Archives, the Casa do Guarda (Guard House) and the Coach Museum.
Historical documents and chronicles relating to the complex reveal that some of the built structures that exist today are the result of an intervention carried out by the government dgemn agency between the 1940s and 1960s.
- Condes de Basto Palace
The design approach seeks to capture the role of palimpsest that this building and its façades have played in the history of the city. As an exceptional piece of architecture, it needed to incorporate the same type of clay mortar (in colour and texture) as used in other historic buildings in the immediate surroundings, i.e. the Sertório Tower, the city walls and the Cathedral.
- Central Courtyard and Traitor’s Gate
The aim here was to improve the conditions for outdoor shows and performances, creating new courses, making Traitor’s Gate operational again and stimulating an improved relationship beween the old walled inner city and the university hill.
- Eugénio de Almeida Library and Archives
The design proposed maintaining the building’s interior organisation and renovating the façade, removing the balcony roof added in the latter half of the 20th century.
- Casa do Guarda (Guard HouseI)
Habitational conditions were improved and the porticus dismantled. harmony with the setting and surroundings, investing in a sensitive revitalisation of the existing building whilst giving it a new addition, a new life and a new meaning – rehabilitation in the true sense of the word.