Visit Seville – La Casa de Pilatos and Lebrija Palace
If you are visiting Seville for a week or more consider including a visit to two of Seville’s beautiful palace museums, La Casa de Pilatos, and the Palace of the Countess Lebrija.
Both palaces are outstandingly beautiful, with unique and interesting elements that make them worthy of a spot on any “must see” list in Seville.
La Casa de Pilatos (Pilates House)
La Casa de Pilatos is a 16th century palace located in the historic district of Santa Cruz. Behind its unassuming façade lie captivating gardens, a beautiful interior adorned with azulejo tiles and intricate plasterwork, and fine examples of classical marble sculpture.
In traditional Andalusian style, the palace is built around a central courtyard and is a blending of Renaissance, Mudejar and Baroque styles.
Construction of the palace was begun in 1483 by Pedro Enriquez de Quiñones, the Mayor of Andalusia and his wife Catalina de Rivera, and completed by their son Fadrique Enríquez de Rivera (first Marquis of Tarifa). Much inspired by his 1915 pilgrimage to Jerusalem, Fadrique incorporated many of the design elements from his travels into the palace in Seville and led to the palace being given the name, Casa de Pilatos, or (Pontius) Pilates House.
For more information on the history of La Casa de Pilatos, visiting and purchasing tickets, check out the official website at http://www.fundacionmedinaceli.org/monumentos/pilatos/
Palace of the Countess of Lebrija
Originally a manor house dating from the 16th century, the Palace-House was purchased by Regla Manjón Mergelina, the Countess of Lebrija in 1901, who spent thirteen years restoring and renovating the palace to house her valuable art collection.
The Countess of Lebrija was passionate about archaeology and decorated the palace with artefacts from her own excavations, as well as those bought from other archaeologists, and friends.
The palace spans across two floors; the ground floor was used during the summer and the upper floor during winter.
The main courtyard is absolutely stunning, with it’s wooden ceiling, arabesque arches, gilt iron grille and fabulous Roman mosaic floor.
The ground floor is home to many artefacts of historical and artistic value including vases, amphorae, columns, vessels and sculptures.
The upper floor is available to view by guided tour only. Here you can view sitting rooms, a private chapel, dining room and library, left as they were when the family lived there, all of which contain numerous items from day to day life, and major works of art.
For more information on the history of the The Palace of the Countess of Lebrija , visiting and purchasing tickets, check out the official website at visit https://palaciodelebrija.com/en/home-2/