We now know when it will once again be possible to see the heart of King Pedro IV. The Irmandade da Lapa confirmed this week that the relic will be on special public display on September 25, 26, and 27 at the Casa da Irmandade – Galeria dos Retratos, next to the Church of Lapa.
“The Most Precious Thing He Possessed”
This is how the Irmandade da Lapa announced the exhibition on its social media: “Almost two centuries ago, a king left Porto with what was most precious to him.” According to the institution, the exhibition is not limited to displaying the vase where the heart is kept—rather, it offers an “evocative journey through the decisive moments in the monarch’s life,” who was also emperor of the newly independent Brazil.
Why did the heart remain in Porto?
It is the Brotherhood itself that poses the question in the exhibition announcement: “But why did D. Pedro want his heart to remain in Porto? What deep connection bound him to the city?” The answer dates back to the Siege of Porto, between July 1832 and August 1833, a period during which the future D. Pedro IV lived in the city. D. Pedro died in September 1834, and it was his wife, D. Amélia, who placed his heart in a small casket sent to Porto, where it arrived in February 1835. Since the 1930s, the heart has been kept in the mausoleum of the Church of Lapa.
A story the Brotherhood wants to tell
In its own words, the Irmandade da Lapa describes the initiative as “a story of courage, loyalty, war, and freedom—a story between a king and a city, and a story that remains alive in the heart of Lapa.” For now, the detailed program for the three-day exhibition has not yet been released.
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