Next to the 18th century Town Hall and the 16th century Jesuit College, Funchal's Palace of Justice was built in the mid-20th century. It was inaugurated on 17 July 1962.
The project was designed by architect Januário Godinho de Almeida, who was born in Santa Maria da Válega, Ovar, in 1910 and died in 1990. He studied architecture at the Porto School of Fine Arts between 1925 and 1930. He obtained his architectural diploma with his study for the Parque-Vidago Hotel, in which he already expressed some of the main concerns that accompanied him throughout his career: the interpretation of the place, accessibility, the relationship between the landscape and the interior space and the choice of materials.
Throughout his career, he has opted for architecture that combines the modern and the contemporary, tradition and place. He has worked all over the country, including the Fish Market in Massarelos, Porto, among others.
The Funchal Court building is located on the north side of Rua do Marquês do Funchal, where once stood the Palácio do Colégio, owned by the Viscounts Torre Bela, which was expropriated and demolished for the opening of the street in 1943.
In the Palace of Justice, Januário Godinho uses a classicising language, expressed in the modulation of the façades, the colonnade of the main façade and the design of the stonework, which uses stone from the island. On the main façade, to access the building, there is a symmetrical staircase with two flights, culminating in a platform where the symbolic sculpture of justice, by António Duarte, tops a neo-Baroque fountain.
Sculptor António Duarte Silva Santos was born in Caldas da Rainha in 1912 and belonged to the second generation of Portuguese modernist artists. He was one of the most important sculptors of his generation and was a leading artist during the Estado Novo, the Portuguese dictatorship of the 20th century.
Due to its function, access to the Palace of Justice is restricted. However, inside there are polychrome tile panels inspired by 17th century patterns.
Renovation and extension work was carried out in this century.
