On 20 January, the Club had a guided visit, with Dr. Madalena Fernandes, to the Lázaro Leitão Aranha Noble House.
It was commissioned in 1734 by the principal of the Patriarchal Cathedral and lecturer at the University of Coimbra, Lázaro Leitão Aranha. In the atrium, a beautiful marble staircase and, on the walls, twelve figures in cut-out tiles allusive to the twelve months of the year. In the various rooms, the Main Hall has panels of 18th-century tiles, representing scenes of the court, with musical allusions, and the Dining Room has a panelled ceiling, lined with thousands of 18th-century tiles depicting country scenes and gallantry.
The chapel has a remarkable tile lining depicting the Passion of Christ. In the Library, with two floors of white and gold carved cupboards, we could see a book of old photographs, among which one of a reception held in the Great Hall for Pope John XXIII, still as Patriarch of Venice and great friend of the then owner Viscount Botelho, with the presence of illustrious entities of the time, such as Professor Marcelo Caetano.
