This palace, now Antequera’s Ayuntamiento (Town Hall), was built as a monastery by the monks of the Terceros Franciscanos order alongside the neighbouring Iglesia de los Remedios.

Construction of the building is known to have been in progress by 1679, but the building we know today is the result of the renovation overseen by the architect Antonio Galán, contracted for the purpose in the mid 20th century by the local council, who have owned the building since 1845.

The exterior features a series of typical 18th century elements copied from other buildings in the town. It comprises nine sections divided into two floors and an attic. A large vantage tower stands on the extreme left of the building.

The interior, which is entered via a large, iron-gated hallway, contains a square, brick cloister patio measuring twenty-five metres across and twenty-eight Tuscan columns built from red sandstone from El Torcal. The upper section of the building features seven balconies on each side.

The palace’s staircase is the most beautiful of all the Baroque staircases to be found in Antequera. Rectangular in shape, it comprises three flights and two landings. The banister, panelling and large, one-piece steps made from polished jasper in various colours give a real palatial air to the structure. The staircase is crowned by a half-orange vault supported by plastered pendentines dating back to 1720.

Two other rooms are worthy of note in this Town Hall. The first of these, the Sala de Sesiones, was conceived as a pictorial museum dedicated to illustrious citizens of Antequera, and its highlights are the tempera paintings on the walls and ceiling structures. Meanwhile, the Sala de los Reyes is home to a collection of royal portraits.

However, there can be no doubt that the finest work of art to be found among the town’s pictorial collection is the portrait of Romero Robledo painted by the Valencia artist Ignacio Pinazo Camarlench in 1904 and which hangs in the Mayor’s office.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Jesús Romero Benîtez, Guîa Artîstica de Antequera