Salamanca Portal Turismo

Located in the city center, very close to Plaza Mayor and next to the Monterrey Palace. Its gardens also house a sculpture by Agustín Casillas, a tribute to Prince Juan, who had strong ties to the city.

The Monterrey Palace is one of the finest examples of Spanish Renaissance civil architecture and a prime exponent of the Plateresque style. It has served as a model for other architectural styles such as Neo-Plateresque or the "Monterrey style," and an inspiration for other buildings like the Royal Cavalry Academy of Valladolid, the current Archaeological Museum of Seville, or the Palace of the Provincial Council of Palencia. It was commissioned by Don Alonso de Acevedo y Zúñiga (1495-1559), 3rd Count of Monterrey, a nobleman of illustrious Galician lineage with significant resources, who was linked to the city of Salamanca, where he owned several houses and properties. Currently, it is owned by the House of Alba, which holds the title to the aforementioned countship. It was a highly admired and imitated building in the 19th century, and a paramount reference for a historicism that reinterpreted the aesthetics of Plateresque. It was declared a National Historic Monument on May 6, 1929, a designation equivalent to the current Asset of Cultural Interest (BIC) in the Monument category. Since May 2018, the building has been open for tourist visits.

The Monterrey Palace, located in the city center of Salamanca, was commissioned in the Italian Renaissance style by Don Alonso de Zúñiga y Acevedo Fonseca, 3rd Count of Monterrey. Rodrigo Gil de Hontañón and Fray Martín de Santiago drew up the plans for the palace, and Pedro de Ibarra and Pedro de Miguel y Aguirre began construction on January 18, 1539. From then on, it would become one of the most representative works of the Spanish Renaissance, although it is an unfinished building as its complete project was much grander. Its architecture symbolizes the great nobility of the Spanish Golden Age. The project envisioned a three-story quadrangular building with a central courtyard, featuring towers at each corner and in the center of each wing. Ultimately, only one of the wings, the south one, was built. At the corners, lions and mythical creatures, designed by Fray Martín de Santiago, hold shields bearing the coats of arms of the Zúñiga, Acevedo, Ulloa, Sotomayor, and Fonseca families. The gallery on the top level features Renaissance arches. The balconies and windows are adorned with Plateresque decoration. The Monterrey Palace has significantly influenced numerous Spanish buildings of the 19th and 20th centuries, such as the Palace of the Provincial Council of Palencia, a work by Jerónimo Arroyo from 1916, the Archaeological Museum of Seville by Aníbal González from 1919, or the Royal Cavalry Academy of Valladolid by Adolfo Pierrad from 1924. As one of the main properties of the House of Alba, this building houses valuable works of art, as well as a varied collection of furniture, tapestries, porcelain... Within it, two landscape paintings were identified as original works by the Valencian painter José de Ribera; they are dated 1639 and are the only examples of independent landscapes in his entire production.

Plaza de Monterrey

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