History records that the Pernambuco Justice Tribunal began during the reign of Dom John VI, from 6 February 1821. At the time it was called the ‘Pernambuco Relation Tribunal’ and was established in an area inside the old Jesuit College of Recife, on 13 August 1822.

According to Pereira da Costa, as early as the Dutch occupation of Pernambuco, there were notices about a corral where cattle were killed, perhaps the origin of a “matadouro” (slaughterhouse) in Recife.

The idea for the construction of a new building for the provincial governors of Pernambuco, on the site of the former Fribourg Palace built by Maurice of Nassau, arose in the time of Governor José César de Menezes, in 1786.

In the government of Alexandre José Barbosa Lima, through a Decree from January 1st, 1893, it was renamed to Instituto Benjamin Constant, when of Gymnasium was merged with the Ecole Normale, the boarding school was abolished and several scientific and professional courses were added.

The Pernambuco Public Library was created during the administration of the Conde da Boa Vista, in 1841, but was only inaugurated, in the drawing room of the Liceu Pernambucano, on May 5, 1852.