Pedro I's heart

The heart of the Brazilian emperor Pedro I has been preserved since his death in 1834. The organ is kept in a glass jar, with formaldehyde, in the Church of Our Lady of Lapa. The container is kept in an urn, locked under lock and key. The heart is considered a relic by the Portuguese government.

Pedro I's remains are buried in São Paulo, in the crypt of the Monument to the Independence. By decision of the monarch himself, as one of his last requests in life, the heart was separated and kept in Portugal. Pedro I asked that the heart be preserved in Porto because of the relevance of the city in the civil war for the Portuguese throne between Pedro I (known as Pedro IV in Portugal) and his brother Miguel.

After the emperor's death from tuberculosis in September 1834, a series of royal and ecclesiastical agreements were made so that, in February 1835, the heart was finally sent to Porto, kept in a gilded silver vase, wrapped in a black velvet-lined case, inside the Church of Our Lady of Lapa.

In 2022, after its exhibition in the context of the Bicentennial of Brazil's Independence, it was reported that the organ has a swollen appearance, possibly due to the material initially used in its conservation by doctor João Fernandes Tavares, before being kept in formaldehyde. The conditions of the heart are the subject of research in the field of forensic anthropology.