The traveler who travels on foot, horseback or by car from the port of Navacerrada Real Sitio de San Ildefonso o La Granja, crossing the unique pine forest, he can not go unnoticed, to glimpse from the road, far away, the people of Valsaín 1 , the sight of a skeletal ruins " straitjacket in a village is worthy of a better fate" 2. These are the remains of the great palace beyond recognition and known in the literature of the period as the Casa Real del Bosque de Segovia, built by Philip II, when he was Prince of Spain, on the site of a hunting lodge built during the Trastamara .
some time now I have reconciled with the figure of Philip II, " one of the most controversial characters of history, a character always open for discussion " 3 . Especially I am interested in the monarch's personal and family life, environment and characters in his court, his work as patron of the arts and letters, rather than its political action as a statesman. Of course I have not read the multitude of historical studies published on this King, so praised by some and reviled by others, but I have in my library enough material to form an idea more or less based on Philip II and his time, to use the expression used by Fernández Álvarez in his famous book of historical disclosure . The history of the palace, its construction and historical adventures we know from studies of Martínez Third 4 of Barbeito Diez 5 and especially the precise monograph Maria Angeles Martín González (doctoral thesis), "The Real Site Valsaín" published in 1992 6 .
was, indeed, the young Prince Philip, commissioned by his father, Carlos César, the Regency in Spain since 1543, who fathered the project of building in this picturesque place, a palace complex turning up then royal hunting ground, in a sumptuous retreat for the court.
The starting point of these works stems from the instruction given by the Prince on June 3, 1552, providing that the path and direction of the same is ordered one of the best architects of Charles V (Master Builder of SM), Luis de Vega, but as this for his many occupations could not move to Valsaín to personally direct the construction of the palace, the Prince ordered his nephew Gaspard de la Vega the course of the works by appointing him master and overseer of the same with residence requirement but always subject to the authority of his uncle.
Notes Barbeito Diez 7 that by this time the Prince had just returned from long journey between 1548 and 1551 had been intentionally by northern Italy (Genoa, Milan, Mantua) and the heart of Germany (Trento, Innsbruck, Bavaria) to the Netherlands Brussels to meet his father, the Emperor, in Brussels. In the latter city had more than enough time to study the flamingoes as luxurious palaces where he lived Coudenberg the Court of Charles V. Later, just started Valsaín works, will have the opportunity to learn the English palaces (Winchester, Hampton Court, Whitehall) during his trip to London to get unhappy marriage to Mary Tudor. Acquire as a result of these trips a knowledge and interest in architecture will have its greatest exponent in the construction of the Monastery of El Escorial, from 1563.
In England, where he will attend a glittering procession of more than three thousand people from their House and Court, will also Luis de Vega, who then entrusted visit and study the palaces enthusiastic about Flemish and French will look like the architect "more boastful than helpful ."
Felipe is therefore not a layman in architecture (reportedly had its own drawing board) and someone who might contradict in their tastes the architects in charge of the works who, Wheresoever the King, Where, they sent regular reports of progress Valsaín and received their comments and instructions. Including covering the roof with slates to the Flemish (Agro roofs) " that as you have seen are very lucid especially making them the points for lights and other decorations that are made here " according to a letter dated at Brussels February 1559 and many other ideas that WILL make it occurred as riders and built by Gaspar de Vega in glass galleries, following models of English architecture in the construction or use red brick, very cooked style flamenco.
This personal commitment will be the palace of Valsaín be " the best and most accurately reflect the personal tastes of monarch " 8 and therefore spare no personal media (the decision taken by King in 1559 to cover the roofs with slate will result in the arrival of a large number of foreign officials, Flemish, French and Italian) and materials. 9
The work goes quickly and be completed in twenty years. The King of the visit in late 1559 and in 1561 Luis de Vega tells the palace is now ready to be inhabited as in May of that year Philip II will transfer order.
Thereafter, the Court will be installed during the summers and autumns of this the Casa del Bosque so many memories brought to the king of flamenco atmosphere evoked by the slate roofs, gardens and ponds and tree species expressly brought Flanders. Philip II found in the residence not only a place of recreation and rest because it also took care of state affairs, there were issued cards and letters and receiving ambassadors. Indeed, in this palace signed Felipe II on July 13, 1573 the New Ordinances Population and Discovery of the Indies, the King commissioned Juan de Ovando and in which, according to Fernández Álvarez against the spirit of conquest to the then prevalent "and other spirit abounds , marking the three premises to be subject to English expansion in the Indies: the first, to discover, the second, people, and the third pacify. " Philip II stays at the palace of the Forest from 1559 to 1592 are well dated, as well as the names of famous people who accompanied the king and queen, Elizabeth of Valois kind, including Sometimes those in Don Juan de Austria, Princess Juana, the rulers of Bohemia, Prince Don Carlos and the "odd couple" formed by Antonio Perez and the Princess of Eboli, as the number of servants who were his entourage (which under Philip II was relatively small compared to the subsequent monarchs).
The palace was also a place of great joy caused by joyous family events. Alli, Elizabeth of Valois, third wife of the monarch, gave birth in the summer of 1566 to his eldest daughter, Isabel Clara Eugenia, the newborn was baptized in the chapel of this palace Archbishop of Rossano, Papal Nuncio, which eventually would turn chosen the name Pope Urban VII. Isabel Clara Eugenia, future governor of the Netherlands, was the most beloved daughter of the stern monarch, along with her sister, Catalina Micaela, then Duchess of Savoy, as reflected in his private correspondence.
precisely in a letter to his daughters (" most " and "lower , he never called them by name) signed" Forest, Wednesday night "and Fernando J . Bouza 10 data as a guide in 1583, when he recounted the way he does with time cold and snow from Madrid to Valsaín crossing El Paular a description of the landscape visible from the corridor of the palace and in which is revealed as a lover of Nature:
" Yesterday when I arrived, it was most of the field covered with snow and rain which has since melted all and is the most beautiful countryside in the world but we should not see it from the corridor. "In this same passage that has not felt any cold coming on bunk" sick least in the field than at home, that some times it does . "
also visited the palace, though perhaps less his fourth wife and niece, Anne of Austria, with whom Philip II handcuffed in Segovia on 12 November 1570, held at the Palace and Park Forest, according to the chronicles, eight days of festivities, games and festivities.
With the successors of Philip II, the palace remained Valsain place of recreation and rest for the Court. Philip III commissioned his architect Juan Gómez de Mora some reforms (construction of a gallery or porch complete the main facade) and visited the palace with some frequency halfway between Madrid and Valladolid. The harsh climate of the mountains should therefore seriously affect the palace during the reigns of Philip IV and Charles II who just visited, had to be maintenance work to prevent rapid deterioration. Finally in 1686, just after a royal visit, the palace was gutted by fire leaving the building partially destroyed.
With the new dynasty came the opportunity to rebuild the battered palace. Felipe V met and fell in love Valsaín pine and after an inspection visit in 1701 by the Mayor of Segovia, Earl of Belmonte, who did not appreciate irreparable damage to the building, they had to wait until 1716, when war ended Succession Philip ordered his architect Teodoro Ardemans conduct the repairs necessary to put the palace in a position to be inhabited again, but everything was little more than good intentions for another project soon grew more attractive to build a new palace at La Granja de San Ildefonso to an architectural style that had nothing to do with the Austrias.
During the eighteenth century, forgotten and intend to build it, there was located the workshop of the French sculptor who made the fountains and statues in the gardens of La Granja 11 , despite the that his condition was worsening, gradually collapsing parties damaged by the fire and being possibly taken advantage of its stones for other buildings, especially the palace of La Granja.
In the nineteenth century the building was abandoned to its fate, even to be sold to a private, though Alfonso XII was purchased new in 1882, without reaching restoration undertaken, despite the monument nationwide June 3, 1931.
The penultimate I've read about the ownership of these ruins is that the Royal Family in 2001 sold it to an individual. But I have no more information about it.
obtained The latest news is that the Palace the City of La Granja, which depends Balsaín has approved a Special Plan of Protection and Improvement Valsaín Palace and its environment "which provides rehabilitation Royal Palace Valsaín for hotel use, the recovery of the space around it with the demolition of the houses that surround it, the transfer of these homes to other areas suitable for building into the environment and the relocation of its neighbors, the closing of the Plaza de Valsaín, the construction of a new palace as a viewpoint and location potential market, the reorganization of the network of roads to prevent cars passing through these places, and the recovery of the square before the palace as a framework reference to the actual building and display area for public enjoyment as " 12 . On the website of the Municipality of Real Sitio de San Ildefonso http://www.lagranja-valsain.com/ available memory, ordinances and economic study and planes (only one) of this Special Plan Protection and Improvement Valsaín Palace and its surroundings dated December 2006. According to my information this Special Plan has been integrated into the General Urban Plan that provisionally approved by the City Council has referred siso (or will be sent) to the Department of Development of the Castile and Leon for final approval.
I also read that the City of San Ildefonso, the Ministry of Housing and castle in the Board and Leon signed last December 29, 2009 an agreement that will start the urban renewal of the environment with Balsaín Palace an investment of 3.5 billion euros 13,
will not know where all this that it seems, goes for long.
The patient reader who has followed us here may feel curious to know how was this palace Valsaín in their glory. To this we have some literary evidence (Chiflett, Duke of Saint-Simon) that are heavy and will not play, and some pictures.
Chronologically, the first is the view of the Palace of the Forest of the Flemish painter Anthony van Wyngaedse (Vienna, National Bibliotheck) who draws it in 1562 when the palace is completing its construction:
The view is from the west side. First displayed sheds workers. The portico, with its arcades, is already completed but needed to build the first floor. Also finished New Tower (bottom left). The towers appear closer to the right, with the tall brick and stone encardenados are covered by a whimsical spire, with large bulbous finials finished lantern. The left shows yet to air its wooden frame, that of the right and is slated to finish.
With more detail is contemplated, a century later, in the view of the Palace of Valsaín, oil of Cuenca Juan Bautista Martinez del Mazo painted before 1667, preserved in the Instituto de Valencia de Don Juan. To the right is the square of the Front, the first body projected, with the Fourth of Prince Philip and stables, behind the garden and the New Tower. In the central part, the fish market and the main facade, with the porch.
to his contemporary, the architect also Segovia, Pedro de Brizuela, we have the only shot of the Royal Place and the ground floor of the Palace which is preserved in the Archives of Simancas, which allowed distribution could imagine have 14 .
Already in the last quarter of the eighteenth century, the view of Royal Palace Valsaín Fernando Brambilla, which is stored in the Casita del Labrador de Aranjuez allows us to see the dilapidated state in which The palace was maintained in good condition only New Tower that was apparently used as a school until the early twentieth century.
Another possibility to know how was this palace Valsaín is to visit the model on display in the neighboring CENEAM or rotate the virtual tour that invites you Raquel Trilla Elizabeth Chronicles Gabarreras # 0 August , 2001 www.cronicasgabarreras.com
The few remaining ruins of this building "prototypical and unique " as defined by Martinez Third as a personal work of the youth of Philip II. " Alegre, in the light of its facades and the game drags in gray and red color of the cloth. Holiday with his delightful private garden and yard for running and rejoicing. Rich, pompous and intimate. Eventful last motif, sensuality and good humor of Flanders at that time " offer looks bleak today as witnessed by the photo essay that included in separate entry (Real Valsaín Site 2) in this blog.
©
Manuel Martínez Bargueño
August 2010
August 2010
If you have interested in this article and want to ask, comment or contribute something about pudes leave a comment or write to my email valve ECU manuelblas222@gmail.com with security to be promptly addressed.
Thanks.
Manuelblas
Manuelblas
NOTES
1 The etymology of the term " Valsaín "is not peaceful. Most of the authors (Ponz, Martin Sedeño, Morales, Fagoaga, Madoz, May Gonzáalez of Amezua and understand that the current term comes from the Roman name "Sabinorum Vallis" by the abundance of juniper trees that were in this Instead, later transformed into " Valsabín " and then "Valsaín ." Another interpretation, Andrew Gregory, believes that the name comes from the patronymic - Sabin, the first family to repopulate these places, after Reconquista.
Juan José 2 Martín González. Introduction to the Book of Maria Angeles Martin Gonzalez Real Valsaín Website "Editorial Al-Puerto, 1992.
3 Manuel Fernandez Alvarez. " Felipe II." Austral 2010, p. 21.
4 Enrique Martínez Tercero. " Valsaín: A Real Site Flamenco Segovia in the Forest." Royal Magazine Sites. Number 84. Second quarter 1985 5
Díez José Manuel Barbeito. " Felipe II and the royal site of Valsaín " in " The Royal Site of San Ildefonso, La Granja San Ildefonso, Valsaín and Riofrio. Illustrated site for biodiversity harmonic and complex reality ". Edit PRESS ARTS & Bookstore Icarus 2010. Pp 11-32.
6 Maria Angeles Martín González" El Real Sitio de Valsaín. Alpuerto Editorial SA, 1992.
7 Barbeito Diaz, op.cit, p.13.
8 Barbeito Diez op.cit. p. 31.
9 According to research conducted by Maria Angeles Martín González most of the materials used in this plant came from places near to Valsaín: wood, brick, lime and plaster, stone, slate (of Bernards), tile, nails and ironwork, tiles, but other materials as vanes or lead came specifically for the work of the Netherlands.
10 Letters of Philip II to his daughters. Edited by J. Fernando Bouza Álvarez. Turner Publishing, 1988, p.87.
11 José Luis Sancho. " views Sites Brambilla Royals. La Granja de San Ildefonso ." National Heritage. Twelve Streets 2000, p. 44.
12 El Norte de Castilla April 13, 2008.
14 Maria Angeles Martin op.cit. pp. 102-108.
0 comments:
Post a Comment