Palace of La Vila - Ontinyent

Data

Phone: 962916090

Address: Plaça de Sant Roc, 2C 46870 Ontinyent Valencia

Email: ---

Open holidays: No

Map

Built in the extreme northwest of the medieval enclosure of the Vila, on the Clariano River, the Palau de la Vila was an old Andalusian fortress. Once conquered the Hisn Untinyân by the king Jaume I, towards 1245, was real residence and later noble palace. Declared a historical and artistic monument in 1974, with the name of the Palace of the Duchess of Almodóvar (last noble owner), it later became well of cultural interest. The building was subjected to an integral rehabilitation (2008-2011) thanks to an aid from the Ministry of Development, based on 1% cultural. Since 2012, it has hosted the plenary sessions of the Ontinyent Town Hall, the Valencià Textile Museum, the Gegants i Cabets Museum and the Tourism Office. The Palau site had a defensive function in the early years of the feudal conquest and at the same time was the seat of an embryonic administrative and municipal political apparatus. Converted into a royal residence, tradition says that Jaume I, Pedro el Grande and Jaume II made use of its rooms. At the beginning of the 16th century it became the property of the Blasco lineage. Luis Blasco, member of the Supreme Council of Aragon, consolidated its importance as the main private building of Ontinyent. In 1666, when it was owned by the Count of Carlet, it welcomed the visit of the Infanta Margarita de Austria (daughter of Felipe IV). Upon the death of the Duchess of Almodóvar (1814), the building began a long decline until its acquisition by the City of Ontinyent, which promoted its recovery. The cryptoportico is a neologism that means buried porch, and acts as a buttress of the upper buildings based on barrel vaults and large arches of half a point of brick and masonry, with another large diaphragmatic arch of ashlars and a ramp gallery, covered Ojival that configures the old access.