 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Royal Palace of Tordesillas" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(September 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
ThePalace of Tordesillas (Spanish:Palacio Real de Tordesillas) is a former royal residence inTordesillas,Spain. It was here that queenJoanna of Castile, while nominally reigning, after being declared insane, was confined in 1506 until her death in 1555. The palace was demolished in the 18th century.
.jpg)
One of the most important buildings in Tordesillas was its Royal Palace, the temporary seat of the itinerant courts of theCastilian monarchies and especially notable for being the place where QueenJoanna I of Castile stayed for 46 years, after being declared insane in 1506.[1][2]
After the palace ofAlfonso XI andPedro I was converted into a convent ofPoor Clares, theRoyal Convent of Santa Clara, KingHenry III decided to build another palace near the previous one, overlooking theDouro river.[1][2]
Its perimeter was rectangular, it was built with masonry and adobe and had two floors of height.[1][2] It had three gates: the main one, to the south facing the river; another to the west, on San Antolín Street and the third to the north, in front of the Alderete palace.[1][2] It also had an exterior corridor that ran along the south façade and more than half of the west façade, continuing as an elevated passageway over the street to communicate with the church of San Antolín.[1]
In the center of the south façade there was a square tower with three levels and a corridor in the last one, which was used for surveillance.[1] The rooms were covered with wooden coffered ceilings and their walls with rich tapestries.[1] They were arranged around two patios and an orchard to the east.[1]
The royal palace underwent renovations to accommodate Queen Juana and her entourage.[2] Until 1524, she was accompanied by her daughter,Catherine, who left Tordesillas when she marriedJohn III of Portugal.[2]
Due to the poor quality of the construction materials, it needed continuous repairs.[1] After the death of Queen Joanna, the building was abandoned and, despite carrying out repairs to prevent its state of ruin, it was demolished in 1773 during the reign ofCharles III.[2] New buildings were constructed on the palace site and the urban landscape changed completely.[3]
For an exhibition on the palace in Tordesillas in 2017, a replica of the palace has been made at a scale of 1:40.[3] This model can be seen in the Treaty House museum in Tordesillas.[3]
