The palace and the documental fund of the Marquises of Foz: New contributions to the history of a building and two families

Abstract

This paper presents the documental fund of the marquises of Foz, held by Gabinete de Estudos Olisiponenses (GEO) and until now unknown to the public. Starting from a global presentation of the fund and its components, we centre our study in the history of Foz Palace, old residence of the Marquises of Castelo Melhor in the XVIII century, acquired in 1887 by the 1st Marquis of Foz, Tristão Guedes Correia de Queirós, representative of the second family to occupy the building. The Foz Palace was centre stage of significant structural and decorative renovations between the years of 1887 and 1891, being this fund a documental support base to those same renovations, constituted in its majority by payment receipts of the expenses made by the marquis. The documental fund justified carrying out an updated analysis of the palace’s history, placing it, firstly, within the panorama of noble houses in Lisbon after the 1755 earthquake and, in a second phase, within that of Fontista Lisbon in the last quarter of the 19th century.