The Imperial Castle is a colonial building located on Praça XV de Novembro. Incorporating the Armazém Del Rey and the Casa da Moeda national mint, the building was inaugurated in 1743 and used primarily as the Home of the Viceroys of Brazil, as the royal family was living in Portugal.
With the arrival of the Portuguese Court in Rio de Janeiro, in 1808, the building became the Royal Castle – government headquarters, dispatch, and locale of the traditional ‘Beija-mão’ ceremony of King João VI, in which subjects came to thank him and to ask favors of the monarch. After Brazil’s Independence, the building began to be called the Imperial Castle and host the major political and social events of the Court, among them the coronation ceremony of Dom Pedro II.
Declared a heritage site in 1938, the building currently hosts a Cultural Center with painting, photography, sculpture, cinema, and musical exhibitions, as well as an art and architecture library and various shops.