Logbook · 4 places

Palace of el cardenal Espinosa

Martín Muñoz de las Posadas, Comunidad de Ciudad y Tierra de Segovia, Segovia

1 Villages · 1 Monuments · 1 Curiosities · 1 Historical milestones

Spain › Castile and León › Segovia › Comunidad de Ciudad y Tierra de Segovia › Martín Muñoz de las Posadas › Palace of el cardenal Espinosa

Palace of el cardenal Espinosa

Monument · Martín Muñoz de las Posadas, Comunidad de Ciudad y Tierra de Segovia, Segovia

Palace of el cardenal Espinosa

Philip II held Cardinal Diego de Espinosa, bishop of Sigüenza, in such high esteem that in 1569 he wanted to buy him a house along with the title of marquis; the cardinal refused, asking instead for a free trade fair for the town, and accepted only a modest palace with the royal coat of arms on the façade, so that it would be on record that it was built by order of the king. It was designed by the architect Juan Bautista de Toledo, also the author of the Habsburg palaces, and on his death Gaspar de Vega completed the works in 1572. Rectangular in plan, with a courtyard of Tuscan and Ionic columns, it is notable for its granite doorway with fluted columns and a balcony topped by a pediment bearing the royal arms. It belonged to the Mata family until 1931 and today houses a secondary school; it is declared a Bien de Interés Cultural (Spain's highest level of heritage protection), as is the neighbouring parish church.

Photo: jm (CC BY-SA 3.0)

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