The Palace of the Councils or Palace of the Duke of Uceda (in Spanish, Palacio de los Consejos or Palacio del duque de Uceda) is a building from the 17th century located in central
Madrid
Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...
, Spain. It is located on the
Calle Mayor, corner of calle Bailén Street.
Construction
The palace is representative of Spanish
baroque
The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...
architecture, and was commissioned by
Cristóbal Gómez de Sandoval-Rojas, first
Duke of Uceda, and powerful prime minister or
valido of King
Philip III of Spain
Philip III (; 14 April 1578 – 31 March 1621) was King of Spain and King of Portugal, Portugal (where he is known as Philip II of Portugal) during the Iberian Union. His reign lasted from 1598 until his death in 1621. He held dominion over the S ...
. It was designed by
Francisco de Mora, although works were directed by
Juan Gómez de Mora and executed by Captain
Alonso Turrillo from 1608 to 1613. The palace stands before the Church of
Santa María de la Almudena.
When it was built, decorated with the heraldic arms of the Sandoval family flanked by lions, it was judged too ostentatious for a nobleman. After the Duke's fall from grace, it became property of the royal family, and housed the mother of
Charles II of Spain, the queen mother
Mariana of Austria. She died there on the night of May 16, 1696.
House for royal offices
Upon his arrival to Madrid in 1701, the Bourbon king
Philip V of Spain
Philip V (; 19 December 1683 – 9 July 1746) was List of Spanish monarchs, King of Spain from 1 November 1700 to 14 January 1724 and again from 6 September 1724 to his death in 1746. His total reign (45 years and 16 days) is the longest in the ...
transferred many of the royal offices or councils from the then- extant
Real Alcázar of Madrid to the Palacio de Uceda, and since then, it has been known as the ''Palacio de los Consejos''. The main council, however, remained in the palace. In the 19th century, the
council of state
A council of state is a governmental body in a country, or a subdivision of a country, with a function that varies by jurisdiction. It may be the formal name for the cabinet or it may refer to a non-executive advisory body associated with a head ...
and the Capitanía General were moved here.
See also
*
Spanish Council of State
The Council of State (), is the supreme consultative council of the Spanish Government. The current Council of State was established in 1980 according to the article 107 of the Constitution of 1978. The institution of the Council of State, under ...
References
{{reflist
External links
Web del Consejo de Estado
1613 establishments in Spain
Houses completed in 1613
Consejos, Palacio de
Bien de Interés Cultural landmarks in Madrid
Herrerian architecture
Buildings and structures in Palacio neighborhood, Madrid
Philip V of Spain