Ducal Palace of Lerma facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Ducal Palace of Lerma |
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Palacio Ducal de Lerma
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| Alternative names | Parador de Lerma |
| Hotel chain | Paradores |
| General information | |
| Architectural style | Herrerian |
| Location | Lerma (Burgos), Spain |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | Francisco de Mora |
The Lerma Ducal Palace is a grand building in Lerma, a town in Spain. It was once the home of the dukes of Lerma. This amazing palace takes up a whole side of the town's main square.
Long ago, the palace had huge gardens. These gardens were by the river and featured beautiful fountains. There were also stately homes and seven chapels. Today, only one chapel, called Cristo, remains.
Building the palace started in 1601. It was ordered by Francisco Gómez de Sandoval y Rojas, Duke of Lerma. The architect was Francisco de Mora. Many people think this palace is de Mora's best work. It is also seen as one of the most beautiful buildings from that time. Today, the palace is used as a parador, which is a type of luxury hotel.
Contents
What Does the Palace Look Like?
The Main Entrance
The main doorway of the palace is very impressive. It has a special top part called a frontispiece. This part is held up by strong columns. The big door itself is made of walnut wood. It is decorated with 520 shiny bronze nails!
Above the door, you can see two of the duke's family symbols. These symbols are decorated with laurel leaves. The railings on the windows and balconies are painted in blue and gold.
Inside the Courtyard
The palace has a beautiful courtyard inside. It has round arches on each side. The columns holding up these arches are made from single pieces of granite stone. The duke even owned the quarries where the stone came from!
On the upper level, the columns do not have arches. Instead, they support a long, flat band called a frieze. There are iron balconies between the columns. The windows on this level were originally made of walnut wood.
The Four Towers
The palace has four towers, one at each corner. The pointed tops of these towers were fixed during recent repairs. Usually, only palaces belonging to kings could have more than two towers. But the Duke of Lerma was given this special permission. This shows how powerful he was in the royal court!
Images for kids
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The Ducal Palace of Lerma
See also
In Spanish: Palacio Ducal de Lerma para niños
