Puebla de Sanabria Castle, Puebla de Sanabria, Spain

Puebla de Sanabria Castle was built in the 15th century as a castle-palace by the fourth Count of Benavente, Don Rodrigo Alonso Pimentel, a member of the powerful Castilian nobility and the owner of many castles.

The castle has a barrier with large towers and barrel vaulted rooms and a peculiar yard at the entrance. The structure has a regular, square ground floor. The multi-storey Tower of Homage, commonly known as 'Macho', is protected by a drawbridge.

References:

Junta de Castilla y León

Address

Plaza Castillo 7, Puebla de Sanabria, Spain

See all sites in Puebla de Sanabria

Details

Founded: 15th century
Category: Castles and fortifications in Spain

More Information

www.turismocastillayleon.com

Rating

4.5/5 (based on Google user reviews)

Interesting Sites Nearby

Ponferrada Castle (54,4 km)
Las Médulas (46,1 km)
Cornatel Castle (48,3 km)

User Reviews

Maria Chona Santos (20 months ago)
Relaxing view!

Carlos Sanabria (20 months ago)
Awesome place with lots of history

Ana Araujo (20 months ago)
Awesome castle. Very well conserved. Always good to knowmore about history. Great views

Mark Oshea (21 months ago)
Really nice village, beautiful Xmas lights.

Jeff Sumner (2 years ago)
The castle had more-than-one multimedia presentation, professional staff, excellent examples of history, clear explanations in Spanish, and either Portuguese or English (depending on where in the exhibit one was), and the art display was wonderful- though I thought it funny that they were playing Madredeus (Portuguese - from their "Live in Porto" album). Was an exciting drive from Bragança, and I enjoyed my afternoon at the castle very much. The tour whole tour took about an hour to enjoy it all.

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Photo from Flickr, copyright oxfordblues84

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Luxembourg Palace

The famous Italian Medici family have given two queens to France: Catherine, the spouse of Henry II, and Marie, widow of Henry IV, who built the current Luxembourg palace. Maria di Medici had never been happy at the Louvre, still semi-medieval, where the fickle king, did not hesitate to receive his mistresses. The death of Henry IV, assassinated in 1610, left the way open for Marie's project. When she became regent, she was able to give special attention to the construction of an imposing modern residence that would be reminiscent of the Palazzo Pitti and the Boboli Gardens in Florence, where she grew up. The development of the 25-hectare park, which was to serve as a jewel-case for the palace, began immediately.

The architect, Salomon de Brosse, began the work in 1615. Only 16 years later was the palace was completed. Palace of Luxembourg affords a transition between the Renaissance and the Classical period.

In 1750, the Director of the King's Buildings installed in the wing the first public art-gallery in France, in which French and foreign canvases of the royal collections are shown. The Count of Provence and future Louis XVIII, who was living in Petit Luxembourg, had this gallery closed in 1780: leaving to emigrate, he fled from the palace in June 1791.

During the French Revolution the palace was first abandoned and then moved as a national prison. After that it was the seat of the French Directory, and in 1799, the home of the Sénat conservateur and the first residence of Napoleon Bonaparte, as First Consul of the French Republic. The old apartments of Maria di Medici were altered. The floor, which the 80 senators only occupied in 1804, was built in the middle of the present Conference Hall.

Beginning in 1835 the architect Alphonse de Gisors added a new garden wing parallel to the old corps de logis, replicating the look of the original 17th-century facade so precisely that it is difficult to distinguish at first glance the old from the new. The new senate chamber was located in what would have been the courtyard area in-between.

The new wing included a library (bibliothèque) with a cycle of paintings (1845–1847) by Eugène Delacroix. In the 1850s, at the request of Emperor Napoleon III, Gisors created the highly decorated Salle des Conférences, which influenced the nature of subsequent official interiors of the Second Empire, including those of the Palais Garnier.

During the German occupation of Paris (1940–1944), Hermann Göring took over the palace as the headquarters of the Luftwaffe in France, taking for himself a sumptuous suite of rooms to accommodate his visits to the French capital. Since 1958 the Luxembourg palace has been the seat of the French Senate of the Fifth Republic.

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Puebla de Sanabria Castle