Restoration of the palacio de Monterrey

Dating of the building: 1539.

Applicant: Dukes of Alba.

Reason for the award :

For the meticulous restoration work on the façades and roofs of the palace.

The Palacio de Monterrey, a paradigm of the Spanish Renaissance palace, suffered a serious deterioration of its sculptural decoration due to the high porosity of the Villamayor stone from Salamanca.

The Palacio de Monterrey is one of the prototypes of a Spanish Renaissance palace. Although designed by Gil de Ontañón and Fray Martín de Santiago as a quadrilateral structure with towers on each corner, only a quarter of it was completed, corresponding to the wing that closes the central courtyard. For the façades, local Villamayor stone was used; golden sandstone easy to mold, but not very resistant to atmospheric changes. As a consequence, the Renaissance decoration of its façades, shields, reliefs, gargoyles, crests, and moldings, had been disintegrating over the centuries.

The Casa de Alba Foundation, which owns the building, began the recovery tasks in 1984, consisting of cleaning and waterproofing the roofs, cleaning and consolidating the sculptural elements, and the replacement of missing pieces through the reproduction of molds.

Others awards in Castilla y León: