Palace of the Kings of Navarre (Estella)

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Main facade on Calle de San Nicolás

The Palace of the Kings of Navarre (also: Palace of the Dukes of Granada de Ega ) in Estella-Lizarra , a Spanish city ​​in the Navarre region , is the only surviving Romanesque residential building in Navarre.

Geographical location

The city of Estella emerged in the High Middle Ages from a few settlements close to each other in which people of different ethnic origins lived. The initial settlements then formed city quarters, each with an autonomous administration. The palace was in the quarter inhabited by Franks . Today it is located in the Plaza de San Martín , where the historic town hall is also located, on the corner of Calle de San Nicolás . In addition to this city palace, there was a castle on a rock above the city, which was blown up in the 16th century.

history

The building dates from just before 1200, when it was built as a palace for the kings of Navarre . It was later used by the Dukes of Granada de Ega. After it was no longer used as a palace, the building served various purposes, including a prison for the judicial district.

The building has been a cultural monument since 1931 .

Since June 14, 1991, the museum for the painter Gustavo de Maeztu y Whitney (1887–1947), who died in Estella, has been here. The rooms of the museum are spread over the two upper floors of the building.

building

Battle of Roland against the giant Ferragut

The building has three floors and is made of blocks . At the corner of Plaza de San Martín and Calle de San Nicolás , a fourth floor is set up like a tower. The third floor was added in the 18th century and consists of brickwork in the facade facing the Plaza de San Martín .

Main facade

The most important element in art history is the façade , which rises opposite the staircase leading to San Pedro de la Rúa . It is located on Calle de San Nicolás , the old pilgrimage route . A simple cornice separates the two floors. The basement consists of a gallery with four arches resting on pillars . The facade is framed on the left and right by semi- columns placed one above the other . Their sculpted capitals are of particular importance:

  • On the left, stylized figures depict an episode from the Roland song, the battle of the Frankish knight Roland against the giant Ferragut - an allegory of the battle of good against evil. The choice of this topic also shows the connection of the facility to the Franconian culture area. It is particularly rare at this time that the artist, Martin von Logroño, signed the work.
  • On the right, the decoration of the capital consists of the leaves of the milk thistle .

On the second floor there is a coupled quadruple window above each of the arches on the ground floor , the slightly pointed arches of which rest on columns that also end with carved capitals that show depictions of plants, animals and figures. There is another corbel cornice above them. The third floor has only three exposure slits instead of windows and is otherwise unadorned.

Facade to the Plaza de San Martín

Left: main facade, right: facade facing Plaza de San Martín

The second facade, facing the Plaza de San Martín , has a simpler design. The ground floor is closed to the square. The four rectangular, very high windows are from a later phase of use. On the first floor, three coupled quadruple windows have been preserved here - irregularly distributed, each in turn divided into four narrow individual windows. The second floor was added in the 18th century and has a row of arched windows arranged like an arcade.

literature

  • Dietrich Höllhuber and Werner Schäfke : The Spanish Way of St. James. History and art on the way to Santiago de Compostela . DuMont, Cologne 1999, ISBN 3-7701-4862-2 .
  • Pedro de Palol et al. Max Hirmer: Spain. Art of the early Middle Ages from the Visigoth Empire to the end of the Romanesque period . Hirmer, Munich 1965.
  • Werner Schäfke: Northwest Spain. Landscape, history and art on the way to Santiago de Compostela . DuMont, Cologne 1987, ISBN 3-7701-1589-9 .
  • Pierre Tisné et al: Spain. Pictorial Atlas of Spanish Art . DuMont Schauberg, Cologne 1968, ISBN 3-7701-4461-9 .

Web links

Commons : Palace of the Kings of Navarre (Estella)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Remarks

  1. In the Spanish register of monuments it bears the number RI-51-0000763 .
  2. "MARTINUS DE LOGRONIO ME FECIT" (Martin from Logroño created me).

Individual evidence

  1. Höllhuber: The Spanish Way of St. James , p. 93.
  2. ^ Schäfke: Northwest Spain , p. 75.
  3. ^ Schäfke: Northwest Spain , p. 75.
  4. Tisné: Spain , p 256; Palol: Spain , p. 112.
  5. Tisné: Spain , S. 256th
  6. ^ Homepage of Tourism Navarre .
  7. Höllhuber: The Spanish Way of St. James , p. 94.
  8. Höllhuber: The Spanish Way of St. James , p. 94; Palol: Spain , p. 112.
  9. ^ Schäfke: Northwest Spain , p. 75.
  10. Tisné: Spain , S. 256th

Coordinates: 42 ° 40 ′ 9.9 "  N , 2 ° 1 ′ 46.3"  W.