The Government assured this Friday that it has done everything possible to guarantee the security conditions of the Burnay Palace, in Lisbon, which has been the object of vandalism attacks, to comply with the obligations stipulated by the court.
In a statement released this week, the citizen group Fórum Cidadania LX accused the Ministries of Finance and Culture of failing to comply with a ruling by the Lisbon Administrative Court that condemned them to close the doors and windows of this palace, located in the parish of Alcántara. .
Having verified the existence of graffiti on the facade of the Burnay Palace, obviously only possible because it is possible to access its interior, this document serves to denounce the disrespect of the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Culture for the final judgment of the Administrative Court of the Lisbon Circle”, can be read in the note.
According to the sentence known in March of this year, the two ministries were obliged to clean the interior of the building, close all the windows that were open, “to avoid further vandalism and exposure to the elements, as well as to prepare a report”, which records the present state of Burnay Palace.”
This decision resulted from a precautionary measure presented by the association Fórum Cidadania LX.
Five months after this ruling was issued and in the face of accusations that they were not complying with it, both ministries guaranteed, in a response sent to the Lusa agency, that they have taken several measures to safeguard the building and prevent acts of vandalism. .
“The DGTF (General Directorate of Treasury and Finance) has taken measures to protect and safeguard Burnay Palace. In July 2021, the PSP was requested to reinforce the monitoring of security conditions and the easier access locks and imprisoned openings were replaced; in September 2021, cleaning and deforestation work was carried out in the nearby park; In April 2022, the closing works of the referenced windows were completed”, described the Ministry of Finance.
The response from the ministry supervised by Fernando Medina, former mayor of Lisbon, also says that “the cleaning work was completed at the end of July and that information was provided to the court in August.”
Despite continuous efforts and diligence, and in the face of new intrusions at the Burnay Palace, which the DGTF deplores and repudiates, new procedures were initiated to close breaches on a more permanent basis and the PSP 4th Lisbon Division was again contacted to that a complementary surveillance round was carried out, ”also indicates this ministry.
In the same sense, the Ministry of Culture, supervised by Pedro Adão e Silva, responded to Lusa, through the General Directorate of Cultural Heritage (DGPC), that “all the openings that led to the outside were closed” and that “there were did a general cleaning of the interior of the property, excluding material that may be of heritage interest.
“The report was prepared by a qualified company and delivered on March 3, 2022, within the deadline extension granted by the Court, which recorded the state of conservation of the interior of the property and made recommendations for future interventions, according to basic principles of conservation and restoration”, indicates the DGPC.
The state agency also mentions that, “in the scope of the preparation of this report, the existing waste was classified, mostly from the fall of decorative coatings on ceilings and walls, which could have value in future interventions or patrimonial information” , except that the final cleanup was completed on July 29 of this year.
The Burnay Palace, also known as the Palace of the Patriarchs because it was the official summer residence of the patriarchs of Lisbon, is located on Rua da Junqueira, in the parish of Alcântara.
This palace, classified as an Asset of Public Interest since 1982, was built by D. Vasco César de Meneses, and the works were carried out between 1701 and 1734.
It would later be acquired by Henrique Burnay, 1st Earl of Burnay, and underwent renovation and restoration work in the 19th century and more recently in the early 1940s.
Source: Observadora
