Unprecedented exhibition of the heart of D. Pedro I attracts thousands in Portugal before heading to Brazil | World
Those who live in the city of Porto, in Portugal, took advantage of Saturday (20) to visit the first exhibition open to the public of the heart of D. Pedro I. The relic is on display at the Irmandade da Lapa, a religious entity that guards the organ.
Only in the first eight hours, three thousand visitors lined up to see the relic. The information is from the Porto City Council.
Visitors lined up on the first day of the exhibition of the heart of D. Pedro I. — Photo: Guilherme Costa Oliveira / Porto City Council
The heart is displayed in the main hall of Igreja da Lapa, in a tempered glass showcase. A curiosity is that the organ was designed for a height of 1.30m, a size that takes into account the average of Brazilians and Portuguese (1.74m for men and 1.63m for women).
The exhibition ends this Sunday (21), when the heart of D. Pedro I will be brought to Brazil for the celebrations of the Bicentennial of Independence. The relic will be transported by the FAB (Brazilian Air Force) and should arrive in the country on Monday (20).
A technical opinion from the Instituto de Medicina Legal do Porto to be used for travel, but the organ was made in a pressurized environment, with controlled pressure.
Unprecedented exhibition of the heart of D. Pedro I in the Portuguese city of Porto. — Photo: Guilherme Costa Oliveira / Porto City Council
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Heart of D. Pedro I is kept in five keys in a mausoleum in the city of Porto, Portugal
Relic kept under five keys
The heart of D. Pedro I has been preserved for 187 years. The organ is kept in a glass vase with formaldehyde, in an urn locked by five keys inside a safe in the Irmandade da Lapa, in the Portuguese city of Porto.
The organ will be taken back to Portugal on September 9, after the celebrations of the two hundred years of the Independence of Brazil. The relic will still be on display for two more days in the city of Porto before being put back in the vault.
As the story goes, On September 7, 1822, Emperor Dom Pedro I proclaimed Brazil’s independence on the banks of the Ipiranga River.
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