History
17th and 18th centuries
At the beginning of the 17th century, the University of Mareantes was established in some houses in the Triana neighbourhood. In 1607, efforts began to be made to build a school-seminary to teach orphaned children to be pilots and thus employ them on the ships that went to the Indies. This project did not materialize until the Royal Certificate of Carlos II of June 17, 1681.
According to the Royal Certificate, this institution would be in charge of the University of Mareantes. At first, it was wanted to build where the houses that this institution had in Triana since 1573 were located . which would serve as the center chapel. It would be a large building for 150 students, their teachers and the servants.
The Council of the Indies appointed as "conservative judge" of the new institution the president of the Casa de Contratación de Indias . However, the projected building did not fit between the streets of Triana where the houses were located. The president of the Casa de Contratación, Juan Jiménez Montalvo, proposed that it be built in front of the Puerta de Jerez, on land known as haza de San Telmo, which belonged to the Court of the Inquisition. This decision was signed by other people who had inspected the Triana location, who were; Acisclo Burgueño, senior teacher of the city; Francisco Escobar, architect of the Alcázar; and Francisco Moreno, master builder of factories. The president of the Casa de Contratación and the president of the Universidad de Mareantes chose, among several, a plant for the new college-seminary and sent it to the Council of the Indies, in Madrid, for approval. Work began in 1682. The building continued with the same floor plan throughout the construction process, which lasted during the 18th century. The school already had some students at the end of the 17th century.
In 1691 it is known that the mason Antonio Rodríguez was director of the works, who was still working in the rooms of the building in 1696. 8 In the 1690s, the masters Francisco Gómez Septier and Antonio Gil Gataón carried out stonemasonry work. 7 In 1699 the works were paralyzed due to lack of funds and were not resumed until 1722. In 1722 the architect in charge of continuing the building was Leonardo de Figueroa . After his death in 1730, his son De he Matías was in charge of finalizing his father's projects. The works were suspended again in 1736 and were not resumed until 1775 and lasted a couple more years.
In 1787 the works were resumed by Lucas Cintora, who was in charge of finishing the north façade and making the main staircase of the palace. Work on the staircase was from 1787 to 1791. The original building was completed in 1796.
In 1704 the University of Mareantes ceased to have its headquarters in Triana to move to this palace. This institution sold its headquarters in Triana in 1778. It remained with the palace as its headquarters until in 1793 the University of Mareantes was suppressed. By Royal Decree of November 6, 1786, the school ceased to depend on the University of Mareantes to become dependent on the Secretary of State and Universal Office of the Navy.
19th century
The Duke of Sesto, accompanied by the Marquis de la Frontera, asks for the hand of María de las Mercedes on behalf of Alfonso XII , in the main hall of the palace.
In 1841 the Palacio de San Telmo school moved to Málaga . In 1841 the palace became the Military Naval College. On March 1, 1846, Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer entered as a student at the age of ten. 16 Bécquer showed an interest in literature and met the writer Narciso Campillo there, with whom he collaborated. On July 7, 1847, the nautical teachings in the palace were abolished.
Between July and October 1847 it became the headquarters of the Railway Company office.
In October 1847 it became the seat of the Royal College of Humanities, known as the Literary University. This institution had its headquarters in the palace until July 1849.
Antonio de Orleans , Duke of Montpensier and son of French King Louis Philippe I , and his wife María Luisa Fernanda de Borbón , sister of Elizabeth II , left France after the 1848 Revolution . They went to England and, later, to Spain. They were not well received at Court because the Duke claimed part of Fernando VII's inheritance for his wife. The marriage went to Seville and, after residing briefly in the Alcázar, he bought the Palacio de San Telmo to use as his residence.
In 1849 the building had become dependent on the Ministry of Public Instruction. This meant that those in charge of appraising it were the architect Juan Manuel Caballero (sent by the rector of the University of Seville) and Balbino Marron (sent by the duke). 18 The building was valued at 1,504,800 reais. To this had to be added an appraisal of the palace's works of art, carried out by Joaquín Domínguez Bécquer .
Balbino Marron carried out architectural reforms in the palace until his death in 1867. Around 1852 he designed the south and east façades, as well as the tower that forms an angle between them. 18 In 1855 he designed the north facade, with a door that gives access to a halt. 18 Also in the 1850s he made the northeast tower.
The main gardener of the palace was the Frenchman Lecolant. The gardens were a space that encompassed the orchards of Isabela and the old convent of San Diego. 18 Lecolant was also in charge of the duke's gardens at his palace in Sanlúcar de Barrameda .
The duke commissioned many works of art from painters and sculptors in Seville and received the local aristocracy in his palace. 17 In 1861 the Duke received in Seville the empress consort of Austria (known as Sissi ), who was returning from a trip to Madeira .
The Duke aspired to obtain the Spanish throne and in 1868 he financed the overthrow of Elizabeth II with a loan of 5,750,000 pesetas from the Coutts bank in London, for which he had to mortgage the San Telmo Palace. This overthrow led to a liberal revolution, known as the Glorious Revolution , after which he was sentenced to exile in Portugal. Although he returned, he was sentenced again in 1871 to a fortress in Menorca for not swearing allegiance to the new monarch, Amadeus I of Savoy .
In 1875 began his reign Alfonso XII, who was seventeen years old. In 1876 the Duke was released and returned to the Palacio de San Telmo. In the following years he would make minor reforms to the architect Juan Talavera de la Vega.
Alfonso XII wanted to marry the Duke's daughter, María de las Mercedes de Orleans. Although neither President Cánovas del Castillo, nor the Cortes, nor Isabel II considered such a marriage appropriate, since his father was the Duke of Montpensier.
The main hall of the palace was the scene on December 12, 1877 of the marriage proposal of his daughter María de las Mercedes de Orleans by the Duke of Sesto , José Osorio y Silva , and Senator Francisco Marín de San Martín , Marquis of la Frontera , on behalf of Alfonso XII of Spain , through a handwritten letter from the king.
María de las Mercedes married in January 1878 and died in June of the same year. This love affair between Alfonso XII and María de las Mercedes has been the subject of several writings, popular couplets 22 and the film ¿Where are you going, Alfonso XII? (1958).
The Duke of Montpensier died in 1890 in his palace in Sanlúcar de Barrameda. In 1893 her widow, María Luisa Fernanda, donated 18.5 hectares of the gardens to the Seville City Council so that they could become a public park. Today this is the María Luisa park . In 1893 Juan Talavera de la Vega built a Mudejar pavilion, known as the Costurero de la Reina , to be used by the guards of the enclosure.
In 1895 the construction of the northern facade of the palace was completed. The upper part was decorated with twelve statues by the sculptor Antonio Susillo representing characters from Seville or linked to the history of the city.
María Luisa Fernanda died in 1897. The palace was donated to the Archbishopric of Seville .
20th century
Since 1848, the Major Seminary was located in the old Colegio de Santa María de Jesús , founded by Master Rodrigo , near the cathedral. In 1888 the Minor Seminary was located in the old Convent of the Trinity .
In 1901, when Cardinal Marcelo Spínola was Archbishop , the Metropolitan Seminary of San Isidoro and San Francisco Javier was inaugurated in this building, which housed the Minor Seminary and the Major Seminary. Juan Talavera y de la Vega carried out works in the palace to obtain classrooms.
In 1926, when Cardinal Eustaquio Ilundain was archbishop , the seminary sold part of the gardens to finance works inside the palace, carried out with a project by the Bilbao architects José María de Basterra , who had already worked for Ilundain in Orense , and Emiliano Amman .
In the 1926 project, the reform of the interior rooms of the building was carried out. 24 In the 1920s, the architect Aníbal González intervened to delimit the space of the palace gardens by drawing La Rábida street and the curve of Palos de la Frontera street. 24 The height of the wall separating the gardens was increased in 1946 with a project by Aurelio Gómez Millán .
After a spectacular fire in 1952, in which the structure and heritage of the archive was damaged, the palace was restored by the architect Antonio Illanes del Río. This was the first restoration that the building underwent. In 1962 the interior of the northern part of the building was renovated in a modern style to create new rooms. This project was carried out by the architect José Galnares Sagastizábal.
In 1967 Cardinal Bueno Monreal proposed the conversion of the building into a Parador de Turismo, although the project was never carried out. In April 1968 it was declared a Historic-Artistic Monument. In 1969 José Galnares carried out a roof restoration project that was never carried out. Galnares restored the facades with a second project, between 1973 and 1974. In 1974 Antonio Delgado Roig created several rooms based on parcelling in the surroundings of the Patio de las Columnas.
The Provincial Council of Seville tried to acquire the building, without success, in 1980. On September 19, 1989, an agreement was signed between the Junta de Andalucía and the Archbishopric of Seville by which the building was transferred to be the headquarters of The presidency. In exchange, the Junta de Andalucía built a new seminary on Avenida de la Palmera. For three years the property was restored by Guillermo Vázquez Consuegra . The palace began to be the seat of the Andalusian Government in 1992.
21st century
Between 2005 and 2010 the architect Guillermo Vázquez Consuegra carried out a second reform of the building. 31 In this he focused on restoring parts from the 18th and 19th centuries and on reforming elements of little architectural value and poor quality of materials made in the 20th century by Basterra and Sagastizábal.
The construction of a vault also dates from this period .
Description
The Hall of Mirrors in the palace, at a meeting in 2014.
The main elements of the original palace preserved today are the main façade, the main courtyard and the chapel.
The main portal was completed in 1734, although the upper part was renovated between 1775 and 1776. In the first body is the entrance and, on both sides, columns with various reliefs. In the second body there is a balcony supported by figures of Atlanteans and, on both sides of it, Ionic columns together with twelve allegorical figures of navigation. In the third body there are columns of Corinthian order and figures of the monarchs San Fernando and San Hermenegildo and, in an arch in the center, a figure of San Telmo. In the upper body there are two seated statues with cornucopias. In the intercolumnium of the third body there is an inscription that says:
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In 2012 the palace was visited by the Prince of Wales
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