Entrance Hall
This space is split by a stone arch cut through the Moorish Wall and has a wooden ceiling with ornamental painting created during the restoration works carried out at the start of the 1950s, reproducing 17th-century motifs. The two tile panels depict the Nativity and the Visitation of Our Lady to Saint Elizabeth, both attributed to Nicolau de Freitas. The world of religion is also evoked by 15th-century limestone statues of a Holy Martyr and Pope Saint Peter. The space is dominated by a berline coupé carriage (with a single interior seat) made in the last quarter of the 18th century, in a style still inspired by the Rococo, the body enhanced by elaborate gilded carving which is echoed in the painted borders inside the panels, filled with mythological scenes. On the front panel, the coat of arms of the viscounts of Asseca can be identified, flanked by two indigenous South Americans, evoking the family’s long-standing link to Brazil, where they held high office in government.