Chalé Baete - (Av. Dr. Bernardino da Silva 70-82

Chalé Baete built in 1928 on Avenida Dr. Bernardino da Silva, who shaped the urban development of Olhão during the growth of the canning industry, is one of the more beautiful buildings of Olhão with its particularly beautiful azulejos tableaus by Jorge Colaço. This building in the style of eclecticism combines classical influences with new materials, such as the ironwork reminiscent of the Art Nouveau style.

The first owner, who also had the house built, was Domingos Lourenco Beate, who, in addition to being deputy mayor, had also started a fish canning factory in 1918. Chalé Baete, in addition to being an expression of the owner's prosperity, is also a tribute to the history of Olhão. In three tableaus, the renowned artist Jorge Colaço, who has painted his famous azulejos tableaus all over the world, including at Windsor Castle, has succeeded in uniting the famous history of Olhão and the prosperity of its owner. In the tympanum we see the industrial development of Olhão depicted in a female figure with the factories in the background and next to her, as patron, Neptune, the God of the sea.

The right tableau tells about the heroic crossing and arrival in Rio de Janeiro in 1808 with the Bom Sucesso, where a number of 'Heroes of Olhao', the Portuguese king, who had emigrated to Brazil, came to hear that Napoleon had been expelled from Portugal during a battle that had started in Olhão.

The left tableau shows a number of typical fishing boats 'Qaiques', with their traditional equipment and fishing methods as a tribute to the sea and fishing in Olhão.

Through the central entrance doors you enter the hall with a monumental staircase flanked by two Corinthian columns that give the whole a theater foyer-like appearance. On both side walls of the hall there are azulejo tableaus from 1921 with the images of the daughters Virginia and Natéricia Baete in beautifully decorated medallions with Ria Formosa in the background. These works were also created by the renowned and famous artist and specialist in the production of large tile paintings Jorge Colaço.

When Chalé Baete became vacant in the 1960s, it was rented to the municipality, which first housed the fire brigade and in 1989 a gallery, the municipal library and a cultural association. This use has significantly affected the building in the form of a number of newly installed aluminum frames and doors in the side wings to replace the existing ones.

Thanks to the efforts of APOS, which proposed to the Direcão Regional da Cultura in 2007 that it be put on the list of 'municipal Interest', the building has not yet been demolished. The building has now been given the status of a 'municipal process', which provides a lot less protection. The loss of all documents in 2009 regarding this 'municipal process' does not make the protection of this characteristic building any easier.

António Paula Brito - APOS