The Palacio de Santa Cruz or Palace of the Holy Cross is a

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 ...

building 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 now houses the Spanish

Foreign Ministry In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral re ...

. It was used as a jail until the reign of

Philip IV of Spain Philip IV (, ; 8 April 160517 September 1665), also called the Planet King (Spanish: ''Rey Planeta''), was King of Spain from 1621 to his death and (as Philip III) King of Portugal from 1621 to 1640. Philip is remembered for his patronage of the ...

, when it was converted into a palace. Construction was commissioned in 1629 by Philip IV to house both courts and jail facilities. The architect

Juan Gómez de Mora Juan Gómez de Mora (1586–1648) was a Spanish architect, active in the 17th century. He was a main figure of Spanish early-Baroque architecture in the city of Madrid. Spanish art historian Virginia Tovar Martín has published scholarly wor ...

worked on it from 1629 to 1636, and later other architects like José de Villareal,

Bartolomé Hurtado García Bartolomé may refer to: People * Bartolomé Abdala (born 1964), Argentine politician * Bartolomé Bermejo (c.1440–c.1501), Spanish painter * Bartolomé de las Casas (1484–1566), Spanish priest * Bartolomé Castagnola (born 1970), Argentine pol ...

, and José del Olmo added elements. In 1767 it changed from jail to the Palacio de Santa Cruz, due to its proximity to the church of Santa Cruz. A fire destroyed all but the facade in 1791.

References

Sources

History of the Palacio de Santa Cruz by Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores

Palacio de Santa Cruz. Entrada de Madrid Histórico
Santa Cruz Bien de Interés Cultural landmarks in Madrid Baroque architecture in Madrid Buildings and structures in Sol neighborhood, Madrid {{Spain-palace-stub