Luiz I Bridge seen from the Lada Elevator

The design for the Palácio da Bolsa (Stock Exchange Palace), under Joaquim da Costa Lima Sampaio (1842), was centered around the cloister which had been rebuilt in the 18th century. The vast area once belonging to the medieval convents of Saint Francis and Saint Dominic later gave rise to new projects and urban facilities. By the 19th century, the old convent spaces had already been appropriated for new uses.