Embalmed heart of Portuguese king on display at Brazil's chancellery
The heart of Portuguese monarch Dom Pedro I, who declared Brazilian Independence from Portugal 200 years ago and was named "emperor" of Brazil, was on display on Wednesday in Brasilia as part of independence anniversary celebrations.
The heart is being exhibited in Itamaraty Palace, the headquarters of the Brazilian Foreign Ministry, under a heavy security guard.
Kept in formaldehyde in a glass jar inside a gold urn, the heart arrived in Brazil on Monday (August 22).
Dom Pedro I's heart had been kept in a church in the Portuguese city of Porto since his death in Portugal in 1834 and loaned for three weeks to Brazil, where it will be put on display as part of independence anniversary celebrations.
Pedro declared Brazilian independence in 1822 and was crowned "emperor" of Brazil after his father King Joao VI returned to Portugal following the restoration of European monarchies after the defeat of Napoleon.
Though Pedro returned to Portugal nine years later, his declaration of independence on September 7, 1822, is acclaimed by Brazilian nationalists as the birth of their country.
