The built structure of the current museum may have, in part, its origins in the old Casas da Mitra and in the building of the Colégio de S. Pedro existing in this place in the 17th century.
However, the importance of the Bragança city in the context of the Miranda-Bragança diocese and the mandatory residence of the bishop for half of the year, led D. João de Sousa Carvalho (1716-1737) to carry out works in order to expand and improve the residential facilities, giving it greater dignity. It was the master João Alves Lagido who, contractually, was responsible for this campaign of works during the year 1734, redefining the structure of the current central wing of the building and making the interior noble, presenting us, even today, his weapons carved in wood. on the ceiling of the Sala da Ourivesaria Sacra and, in stone, on the coat of arms that tops and adorns the central body of the main facade.
When the episcopal headquarters of Miranda were moved to Bragança – whose process took place between the principles of 1764 and 1776 – under the episcopate of D. Frei Aleixo de Miranda Henriques, a new renovation of the building was carried out, perhaps the most profound, involving the acquisition adjacent land and the expansion with two more bodies attached to the existing central structure. It is at this time that the prospective ceiling of the chapel is executed – by Manuel Caetano Fortuna -, bearing the arms of the bishop in the center, and perhaps replicated by the same master, on the ceiling of Sala Sá Vargas, in addition to the one embedded in the atrium of the churches. access stairs to the main floor, in stonework.
Despite the scarcity of sources, it is believed that the final structure of the main façade that still exists today, marked by horizontality and decorative content, can date from this phase. The north facade, less dignified, and the interior of the building may have been reformulated or readjusted to the taste of the tenant of the moment.
With the expropriation of the Paço Episcopal carried out by the 1st Republic in 1912 and the exile of Alves Mariz, the Paço was handed over to the City Council of Bragança to receive state bodies to which the city had to provide accommodation. And here the Republican National Guard, the Conservatory, Finance, the Caixa Geral de Depósitos, the District Archive, the Classical Library and the Regional Museum created in 1915 were based.
The building underwent more profound documented changes in 1937 – 40 and 1993 – 94. The 1937 – 40 construction campaign carried out major renovations to the building, especially in the north façade and inside. This campaign of works, inside the building, intends to cohabit the District Archive and Classical Library with the Regional Museum of the Abbot of Baçal, assigning the ground floor to the Archive and Library and the first floor to the Museum.
Above all, an attempt was made to dignify the building with the opening of arched spans, the replacement of ceilings by others from the convents of S. Bento, S. Francisco and the Jesuits, new floors, new doors, new wainscoting and new window frames and, in all probabilities, new roofs rebuilt in the eighteenth century flavor with old brown that Raul Teixeira and, especially in this field, José Montanha, managed to take advantage of demolitions of state buildings, acquire in the city and nearby villages, revealing today some mistakes of adaptations, grooves or differences in shape, texture and patina. The building’s ennoblement also underwent a total reformulation of the north façade and surrounding curtain, which allowed for the expansion and design of new rooms on the two floors of the building. This recreational and ennobling reading of the building, in the conception of the interventionist philosophy of the time, it continues in the making of the box garden with geometric design, in the French style. The campaign was completed with the construction of the Director’s House, in the old Portuguese style, with a side staircase and covered porch.
The 1994 intervention project, under the responsibility of António Portugal and Manuel Maria Reis, was scheduled to be carried out in two phases. The first would encompass the Director’s House, administrative services and the museological and museographic reorganization of the permanent exhibition, involving this campaign almost the entire building, with the exception of the library body which, together with the adjoining building acquired for the purpose, would constitute the area. of intervention of the 2nd phase, reformulating the entrance and creating new permanent and temporary exhibition spaces, in addition to the creation of the Reserves area.
