Palace of Polentinos (Ávila)

Historic Building and Palace in Ávila

Avila, Palacio De Polentinos — CC BY-SA 4.0 / Palickap

The Palace of Polentinos is a Renaissance -style building in the Spanish city of Ávila. Located inside the walled enclosure of the city of Ávila ( Spain ), it is part of a set of buildings that house an Army archive and museum . It was the mansion of the Counts of Polentinos until the end of the 19th century , when it was acquired by the City Council. It was built by the important Castilian Contreras family, to whom it belonged until the beginning of the 18th century when María A. de Contreras y Santisteban, Marchioness of Olivares, married Francisco J. de Colmenares y Fernández de Cordova, Count of Polentinos.

The building was built at the beginning of the 16th century , in Renaissance style , by architects from the Vasco de la Zarza school . It is worth highlighting its façade, whose layout and decorative richness make it one of the most important in the city, and the lintelled patio.

The interior of the building develops typologically around a square courtyard with slender proportions of two heights, with five monolithic columns, topped by shoes and flat friezes with Plateresque decoration of shields and plants. The tribute room stands out with an important coffered ceiling with coffered ceilings and wooden beams supported on carved corbels. The rear part, today dedicated to the building’s car park, was a beautiful Spanish Renaissance garden.

Until 1993 it was the headquarters of the Army Quartermaster Academy , replaced by the General Military Archive of Ávila. Since July 2011 it has also housed the Quartermaster Museum.

The Palace of Polentinos (Ávila) appears in our Complete Guide to Visiting Ávila!

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