Universidade de Coimbra Alta e Sofia — Candidatura a património mundial
Melo's House
Displaying the Renaissance revivalist canons of the 16th century, the present building is the result of a profound campaign of adaptation to the Pharmacy School
Art and Architecture
Displaying the Renaissance revivalist canons of the 16th century, the present building is the result of a profound campaign of adaptation to the Pharmacy School, supervised by architect Augusto de Carvalho da Silva Pinto between 1912 and 1915.
The façades display simple apron windows, the coats of arms of the Roman Popes Clement VII and Paul III, and a wide portal, crowned with a triangular pediment that precedes the entrance patio, which provides access to the interior of the building.
Amongst the original preserved remains, there is a corner window, in situ, another one before that, with a bipartite ogival arch (presently stored at the Machado de Castro National Museum), and part of the inner balcony, partially rebuilt by the Directorate- General for National Buildings and Monuments (DGEMN) some decades ago.
The colonnade erected in the courtyard follows the architectural style used in Renaissance colleges built in the city in the 16th century.
Proposed Intervention
After the management and administration services of the Faculty of Pharmacy were transferred to new facilities in the recently created Campus III, works of renovation (designed by architect Álvaro Siza Vieira) will begin in order to establish the Library of the Law School there.
Before drawing up the project for the new Law School Library, the University of Coimbra promoted a preventive archaeological intervention in order to assess and characterise the archaeological-stratigraphic potential of this area.
