Description of the attraction
The beautiful Palacio de Liria is located in Madrid on Princess Street. This large structure, surrounded by a magnificent garden, is the family residence of the Dukes of Alba.
The palace was built by order of the Duke of Berwick, who was the illegitimate son of King James II of England and who served the Spanish crown. The authors of the project were architects Ventura Rodriguez and A. Gilbert. The palace was built in the neoclassical style according to the principles of Italian and French palaces. The dense greenery of the garden surrounding the palace practically does not allow to see it because of the fence.
The Palaio de Liria is a repository of amazing works of art. There is a collection of tapestries and a collection of paintings, which contains works by such great masters as Titian, Rembrandt, Goya, Velasquez, El Greco, Durer, van Dyck and others.
During the Spanish Civil War, the palace was significantly damaged, in fact, only its facade survived. The Alba family was in London during this time. Fortunately, before leaving, they deposited their masterpieces with the Bank of Spain and the British Embassy. By keeping the paintings in iron boxes, the collection was saved. Unfortunately, it was not possible to preserve the magnificent collection of engravings, which were completely destroyed.
A few years after the war, in 1948, the young Duchess of Alba restored the palace, fulfilling a promise made to her father. The interior of the palace was completely rebuilt in accordance with the new project, and all the works of art were distributed among thematic halls - for example, the palace has halls for Italian, Flemish, Spanish, and Dutch painting.
Reviews
| All reviews 0 marina 2013-21-02 10:50:45 PM
Palace of the Palaio de Lirio How to get there? Isn't that the property of de Abba?
