Interesting Sites Nearby
User Reviews
The Vazquez de Molina Palace, also known as the Palace of the Chains is a renaissance palace in Úbeda (Jaén). It is considered to be one of the best examples of the Renaissance architecture in Spain.
The palace was built by Juan Vazquez de Molina, nephew of Francisco de los Cobos, and secretary of State for Philip II. The project was given to Andrés de Vandelvira who built it between 1546 and 1565.
After the death of the owner the palace became a convent of Dominican nuns, and was remodeled to accommodate the religious community. The mural paintings in the former chapter house can still be seen.
In 1837, after the Ecclesiastical Confiscations of Mendizábal, the building became the City hall.
The palace was designed as a quadrilateral with a two-storey courtyard. The façade has three storeys and is divided into seven vertical sections of different widths.
Architectural features of the main facade include the central portal, the triangular pediments that cap the windows of the main floor, the oval bull's-eye windows (porthole) and caryatids of the second floor, the projecting cornice and the lanterns placed at the corners of the roof.
References:Sigmaringen Castle was first mentioned in the year 1077 in the chronicles of Petershausen monastery. The oldest parts of the castle are concealed beneath the alterations made during the 17th and the 19th centuries. The secret of the earliest settlement built on this defendable rock will never be fully revealed: large-scale excavation work would be necessary, which the extensive land development renders impossible. Judging from the many Roman remains unearthed in the area around Sigmaringen, the 12th century keep known as the 'Roman Tower' could be traced back to a Roman predecessor.
The castle remains that have been preserved (gate, great hall and keep) date back to the Staufer period around 1200. The castle remains were integrated into subsequent buildings. The foundations of the castle buildings are to a large extent identical to the surrounding castle wall.
These remains give us a good idea of how the castle might have looked during the 12th century.