Ducal Palace of Lerma
Built in the years 1601 to 1617 Palacio Ducal de Lerma ( Lerma Ducal Palace ) is one of the most important buildings in the Spanish architectural style of Herrerianismo. It is based very much on the construction of the Escorial. The palace stands on the top of the large main square (Plaza Mayor ) of the municipality of Lerma in the province of Burgos in the autonomous community of Castile and León.
History
Francisco Gómez de Sandoval y Rojas (1553-1625), the favorite and first minister of the Spanish King Philip III. (reigned 1598-1621 ), late 16th century it was next to his ancestral dignity as Marquis of Denia the newly created title of "Duke of Lerma ," though he himself had no personal or family ties to this place. However, his uncle Don Cristóbal de Rojas y Sandoval (1502-1580), the former Archbishop of Seville, was buried there apparently. In 1601 he commissioned the already active in the construction of the Escorial gewesenen architect Francisco de Mora with the planning and construction of his new Ducal Palace, but this was only completed in 1617.
During the Spanish Civil War, the building was used as a prison. Today it is part of the hotel chain Parador.
Architecture
Facade
The nearly the entire width of the large main square of Lerma engaging three-storey façade is extremely clear and unadorned; even the simplest architectural outline elements such as central and corner projections are missing. The entrance is marked by only two columns presented with a aufruhenden bezel. On both sides of the overlying balcony window, there are coats of arms, which refer to the two titles of the Duke and are each framed by a wreath of flowers and fruit with eingebundener royal crown. The windows of the building have no glare gable; take it from the bottom up slightly to size.
The corners of the palace are formed of four towers, the upper part is slightly loosened by double corner pilaster strips etc.. The establishment viertürmiger palaces was otherwise reserved for the king; that they appear here on a Ducal Palace, shows what has held senior position at the court of the Duke of Lerma.
Patio
The building has a large square and bordered by tall arcaded courtyard, which also lacks any decorative elements. The monolithic columns on the ground floor are from quarries that were in the possession of the Duke; the half columns templates of the upper floor show Ionic capitals. The patio is now covered by a pyramid-shaped Plexiglas roof; to protect against too strong sunlight during the day long fabric panels can be clamped in the summer.
Gardens
On the back of the palace there was formerly a spacious garden with several fountains, gazebos and a total of seven villages ( ermitas ) - only one of them has been preserved.