Palau de la Virreina
| Palau de la Virreina | |
|---|---|
 Facade on the Rambla in 2018 |
|
| Data | |
| place | Barcelona |
| architect | Josep Ausich i Mir , Carles Grau |
| Client | Manuel d'Amat i de Junyent |
| Architectural style | Baroque , Rococo |
| Construction year | 1772-1778 |
| Coordinates | 41 ° 22 '57 " N , 2 ° 10' 18" E |
Palau de la Virreina ( Catalan for Palace of the Viceroy , Spanish : Palacio de la Virreina ) is a baroque city palace from the late 18th century in the old town of Barcelona , which is now used as an art and cultural center. The palace is located directly on the famous La Rambla boulevard in the El Raval district and is only a few steps away from the La Boqueria market hall and the Bethlehem Church .
The palace is one of the first noteworthy buildings on the Rambla that is still preserved today, which was built after the city wall was torn down, which had formed a centuries-old barrier between the historic old town ( Barri Gòtic ) and El Raval. The palace is considered to be the most beautiful secular baroque building in Barcelona.
Origin and naming
The palace was built in the Baroque style from 1772 to 1778 by the architect Josep Ausich i Mir , the opulent facade decoration with influences of the Rococo comes from Carles Grau . The building was commissioned by the then reigning Viceroy of Peru , Manuel d'Amat i de Junyent , who wanted to spend his old age in Barcelona. He is said to have drawn the first planning sketches in Peru himself and sent them to Barcelona in 1770. According to the sketches, the palace was supposed to be twice as large as the actual building that still exists today. Traditionally, the building was first given the name of its owner: Casa de Don Amat y Junyent ( Spanish ) or simply: Casa Amat .
After Amat was replaced as viceroy and returned to Spain, he married Maria Francesca Fiveller de Clasquerí i de Bru, only 24 years old, in 1779 at the age of 72 . She was actually his nephew's bride, Amat himself had chosen the young woman for him. But the groom didn't show up at church on the wedding day and let the wedding break. The former viceroy could not allow the improper behavior of his nephew to adhere to the honor of his family and offered himself as the new bridegroom on the same day. Poor Maria gratefully gave him the yes, because her only alternative would have been to enter a monastery.
Although Amat was no longer a viceroy when he married and his new wife could not be an official viceroy, she was still popularly nicknamed La Virreina . Manuel d'Amat died in 1782 and his widow lived alone in the palace from then on - her nickname was carried over to the building.
Further development until today
- In 1835 Josep Carreras d'Argerich bought the building (he was the administrator of the Amat family).
- The palace was opened to the public for the first time in 1935.
- In 1941 the palace was added to the list of cultural assets of national interest .
- In 1944 the Carreras family sold the palace to the city of Barcelona.
- In the following decades, the Palau de la Virreina housed various museums - including the Textile Museum, the Post and Philately Museum and the Numismatic Cabinet.
- Temporary exhibitions have been shown since 1980.
- Since 1986, the palace has also been home to the city's Institut de Cultura de Barcelona (ICUB) .
- Since 2007 the building has been called La Virreina - Center de la Imatge ( Image Center ). The numerous events range from photo exhibitions and roundtables to literature festivals.
- The so-called giants can be seen in a permanent exhibition - larger-than-life dolls that are carried through the streets for the La Mercè city festival .
gallery
Stairwell
patio
Detail of the facade
Giants
.jpg)
Web links
swell
- ↑ Itinerari per la Barcelona illustrada by AiCEi AiCEi - issuu (Catalan)
- ^ Michi Strausfeld : Barcelona - A travel companion. Insel Verlag, Frankfurt am Main / Leipzig 2007, ISBN 978-3-458-34951-8 , page 39.
- ↑ Palau de la Virreina - Ramblejant (Catalan)
- ↑ Palau de la Virreina - Cultura - Monuments i llocs d'interès cultural - Catalunya.com (Catalan)
- ↑ What is La Virreina? ( Memento of the original from July 30, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (English)
