The Jabalquinto Palace is a civil construction located in the historic center of the city of Baeza, and is considered one of the main heritage symbols of the city, as well as of the Lordship and Marquisate of Jabalquinto. At present, it houses the Antonio Machado Seat of the International University of Andalusia. It is part of the Renaissance monumental complex of Baeza, which was recognized as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2003, along with that of Úbeda.
The palace was ordered to be built in the second half of the 15th century by Juan Alfonso de Benavides Manrique, known as the "Famous Captain of Lorca" and second cousin of King Ferdinand the Catholic. He married Doña Beatriz de Valencia Bracamonte, and his first-born son, Manuel, married Luisa Manrique, daughter of the famous poet Jorge Manrique. In 1637, Isabel de Benavides, heiress of the House, married Antonio Alonso Pimentel de Quiñones, Count of Benavente, and both titles were united. In 1720, the palace was ceded to the Seminary of San Felipe Neri for its expansion, and the counts reserved the right to reside in it when they visited Baeza. In 1836, the State seized the palace, but it was returned to the seminary in 1853, where it functioned as the Minor Seminary of the diocese of Jaén until 1969. Subsequently, it was converted into a Minor College in the 1970s. In 1931, it was declared a historic-artistic monument, and between 1987 and 1991 it was the headquarters of the Baeza Historic-Artistic Heritage Rehabilitation Workshop School. In 1994, after the creation of the UNIA, the palace was ceded by the diocese to the new university institution. The final restoration of the building was awarded in 2005 with the second prize of World Heritage Cities, granted by the Spanish Ministry of Culture.
The main facade of the palace is in the Catholic Monarchs style and is profusely decorated with diamond points, pineapple nails, fleurons, ribbons and muqarnas. Its design has been attributed to Juan Guas, although some link it to Enrique Egas and Pedro Lopez, master builder of Jaen. In the lower part, the main door is framed by Gothic pinnacles and an ogee arch decorated with human figures. In the second body of the facade are several mullioned windows, above which are eight heraldic shields representing the families of the lords of the palace. The facade is flanked by cylindrical buttresses crowned by muqarnas, and a Renaissance colonnaded belvedere was added, reminiscent of the loggia of the Palacio del Infantado in Guadalajara. The rooms facing the facade maintain their original coffered ceilings, some of them polychrome.
The Renaissance courtyard of the palace, which shows Baroque influences, is composed of a double arcade with marble columns and coats of arms in all the spandrels, except in the corners, which have figures of children. The parapet of the upper gallery is decorated with balusters and alternating rectangles, and the dates 1599 and 1600 appear on the intrados of the keystones of the arches. As for the imperial staircase, of clear baroque influence, its access is in the form of a triumphal arch with three openings and is covered with a half-orange vault. Although the staircase shows a stylistic unity, it includes elements dating back to the first quarter of the 18th century. During its use as a minor college, the palace housed two works of art, currently in the cathedral: the lamp of the crossing vault and a canvas of the Holy Family, attributed to Juan de Valdés Leal.
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