Palace of Infante don Luis (Boadilla del Monte)
The Palacio del Infante Don Luis (including the Palacio de las dos Torres called ) in Boadilla del Monte is one of the most important palaces of the late 18th century in Spain. He was the temporary residence of Prince Luis de Borbón y Farnesio (1727-1785), the youngest brother of the Spanish king Charles III .. Since the year 1974 is the construction recognized as a national treasure ( Bien de Interès Cultural ).
Location
The palace is located on the eastern outskirts of Boadilla del Monte about 14 kilometers west of Madrid at an altitude of about 690 meters above sea level. inst.
History
Since existed for Luis de Borbón as youngest son of Philip V. throne no prospects, his family chose an ecclesiastical career - he was at the age of eight years in 1735 by Pope Clement XII. appointed Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church and Archbishop of Toledo. Six years later (1741 ) he also received the office of the Archbishop of Seville. However, since he no great inclination to ecclesiastical matters and felt was more interested in art, music and dance as well as in the hunt and the fencing, he renounced his ecclesiastical dignities and revenues. In 1761 he bought for just under 1.2 million Reales of the Marquesa de Mirabal, the basic rule ( señorio ) over the city Boadilla del Monte and acquired by his brother Felipe the neighboring county of Chinchón. He immediately commissioned the architect Ventura Rodríguez with the construction of a palace, which was completed in 1765 and considered with its elongated, but little articulated facade, with its far-reaching renunciation of baroque ornament ornamental ( volutes, escutcheons, etc.) as a late stragglers of the Escorial must be.
A few years after his socially unacceptable love match with the coming of the lower nobility, and only 18 -year-old María Teresa de Vallabriga in the year 1776, the almost 50 -year-old Luis de Borbón in the also built by Ventura Rodríguez Palacio de la Mosquera in Arenas de San Pedro order in the province of Ávila. His wife bore him three children, but - as it was by Charles III. allowed the royal court of Madrid come no closer than 20 leagues - it is required.
By the year 1936, the Palacio of the Infante Don Luis was home to an extensive art collection with works by Brueghel, Rembrandt, Murillo, Velázquez and Others, but after the start of the Spanish Civil War, the palace building was used as a hospital, a prison and as a commander; 1942 to 1973 it served as a school. The last owner, a descendant of Prince Don Luis, sold it in 1988 to the city of Boadilla who wants to bring here a European study center (Instituto Europeo de Estudios Superiores de la Cultura y la Comunicación ).
Architecture
The architecture of the building is somewhat reminiscent of the Escorial: A clear and ornament loose lines determines the elongated (about 100 meters) and three-storey towers at the corners of which are used for exposure of the two lateral staircases, excessive facade of the building. The framing of the windows and doors are simple and without decor; only three located above the entrance doors balcony first floor windows are surmounted by small gables or lunettes. The central portal is easily highlighted by selected columns. Under the eaves of a triglyph with intervening Metop fields runs. A total of eight Zierlisenen end in the attic floor in small vases essays. To the austerity of the same on both sides designed the two-storey building ground floor garden fits with its geometrically designed flower beds.
While the rooms are designed rather simple in the interior of the palace, impressed the richly decorated chapel with a light inlet dome. Here are the two daughters of Prince Don Luis de Borbón - María Teresa de Borbón y Vallabriga (1780-1828), Countess of Chinchón and María Luisa de Borbón y Vallabriga (1783-1846), the Duchess of San Fernando - buried.
Fountain
Opposite the palace is a facade - also built by Ventura Rodríguez and named after him - classical fountain with three shell arched wall niches and a large enclosure.