Palacio de Ferrera - Avilés, Asturias, España
Posted by: 
Ariberna
N 43° 33.315 W 005° 55.351
30T E 263941 N 4826627
The Ferrera Palace is located in the vicinity of the Avilés town hall , in Asturias ( Spain ). It was built in 1652
Waymark Code: WM158WZ
Location: Principado de Asturias, Spain
Date Posted: 11/10/2021
Views: 0
"It is one of the oldest Baroque-style buildings in the province, being a clear example of what is known as the Baroque expansion towards the outskirts of th emedieval wall.
From its construction until 1998 it served as the residence of the Marquises of Ferrera , and was chosen as accommodation by the Spanish royal family whenever any of its members spent the night in the town. During 2003 the building underwent a comprehensive reform and conditioning to house a five-star hotel belonging to the NH Hoteles hotel chain.
This Baroque palace dates from the mid- 17th century . It was built according to the project of the local architect Bartolomé Velasco , and commissioned by Pedro de León and Menéndez de Avilés, whose side arms appear in the shields carved on both facades. The principal was the maternal grandfather of the first Marquis de Ferrera , in whose descendants the palace followed.
It has a peculiar external appearance since it is located at the confluence of two streets, this characteristic makes it have a façade with a square plan as well as a single prismatic tower located at an angle. Its belonging to the Baroque style may surprise since its decoration is scarce and sober in character, although it has several shields that decorate the main façade, especially one of large dimensions that contains the heraldic arms of the Rodríguez de León family and is located above the door. principal.
It has three floors except for the tower area where it is one higher. At the back it had large gardens that in 1976 were sold to the Avilés town hall by the heirs of the X Marquis, on the condition that they were made available to the public in the form of a park . The family still conserved the French garden , close to the palace, which was not acquired by the City Council until 1998. This garden remains separate from the rest, but it can also be visited at certain times.
The English-style park was officially named Parque de Ferrera and inaugurated in 1976 on the occasion of the visit that the Kings of Spain made to the city ; has more than 80,000 m² and was equipped with different sports systems in addition to having a running circuit , a pond and children's play areas.
Finally, the building was acquired by an important hotel chain to be transformed into a top-class hotel, proceeding to its complete rehabilitation and the construction of an adjoining wing that would give the establishment more accommodation capacity.
It was inaugurated during the summer of 2003 after several years since the tender for the works as it presented an evident deterioration, in addition, an attempt was made to preserve as much as possible the original decoration with which it should be noted that much of the furniture of the old wing is of baroque origin.
Many famous people have chosen these facilities to spend the night during their stays in Avilés , including Woody Allen who together with Javier Bardem , Scarlett Johanson and Penélope Cruz shot part of his film Vicky Cristina Barcelona in the palace gardens. 8 Likewise, the actor Brad Pitt opted for this hotel during his visit to the city to collaborate with the Niemeyer Center."
(
visit link)