Localidad: TUDELA (31500)
Dirección: Calle Herrerías, 14
Zona: La Ribera
Enlaces de Interés: www.tudela.com
Estilo: Barroco
Siglos de construcción: XVIII
Horario de visita: de lunes a viernes de 11:00 a 13:00 y de 16:30 a 20:30.
Precio visita: Gratis
Teléfonos: 948848330 – 948848083
Description
The Palacio del Marqués de Huarte’ in Tudela is an appealing Baroque building. The tastes of the 17th century are highlighted in the decorative profusion of its main façade and the structural exuberance of its interior courtyard and imperial staircase, the most beautiful in Navarre. Light is very important in the palace, and your eyes will be drawn upwards to the elegant lantern over the courtyard. In the past the palace, which now houses the Public Library and city Archives, was the residence of illustrious visitors to Tudela such as the monarchs Carlos IV, Fernando VII or Isabel II of Castile.
The Palace of the Marquis of Huarte stands in calle Herrería, on the western side of Tudela, in the ancient outside-the-walls neighbourhood that the Arabs built after the Christian conquest. It is the most representative example of Baroque civil architecture in La Ribera (the south) of Navarre. Of this majestic building we would highlight the decoration of the main façade and, inside, the imperial staircase, the courtyard and its roof.
Three narrow and deep mediaeval houses were reconverted to build the palace. It was built between 1742 and 1745 and consists of cellars, a ground floor, a ‘noble’ floor (where the main rooms were located), a second floor for the bedrooms and a third floor for the servants’ quarters.
The main façade overlooks calle Mercadal. Admire the exuberant decoration of plant figures and motifs that surround the windows and balconies. To be able to paint al fresco on the walls, the surface was covered with a number of layers of chalk. The secondary façade, now the entrance to the building, overlooks calle Herrerías. It is made of brick and has a much more sober appearance.
In the courtyard of the palace of the Marquis of Huarte a surprise awaits you: the double imperial staircase, considered the most beautiful in Navarre. Walk up it and enjoy the different perspectives created by the play of light that was created to accentuate the Baroque effect of the building. Do not leave the courtyard without raising your eyes to the dome overhead, and discover its magnificent lantern and the four handing elements that fall from the ceiling, from which Baroque figures of Pan hang.
Initially, the palace was designed to house two families, that of Doña Francisca de Francia and that of her son Diego Huarte y de Francia, owner of the estate of Huarte. This explains the double entrance to the palace from two different streets, the double staircase and the peculiar distribution of space.
This majestic building was the residence of personalities of the stature of Isabel II, Alfonso XII or General Espartero. At present, it houses the municipal library, the city’s Archives and a small museum that has a beautiful berlin carriage from the 18th century that belonged to the Marquises of San Adrián.
When you finish your visit to the Palace of the Marquis of Huarte do not miss other similar buildings in Tudela, such as the Palaces of the Marquis of San Adrián or that of the Dean of the cathedral, or other buildings with great artistic content such as the Cathedral of Santa María.