Atodo Jauregia: A Renaissance Palace in Tolosa, Spain
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.7
- Popularity
- Very Low
- Country
- Spain
- Primary era
- Early Modern
- Eras represented
- Early Modern
- Civilizations
- Crown of Castile, Spanish
- Site type
- Domestic
- Remains
- Palace
On this page9 sections
History
Atodo Jauregia is a sixteenth-century Renaissance palace in Tolosa, Gipuzkoa, Spain. It takes its name from Fermín de Atodo, who was born there in the sixteenth century and became a palatine count, a nobleman associated with royal service, as well as captain of the Tolosa tercios, major early modern Spanish military formations, in 1558. He later served as Philip II’s ambassador in Rome. The Atodo lineage originated in Albiztur and included prominent figures during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
Origins and Renaissance identity
The architectural beginnings of Atodo Jauregia remain uncertain. One hypothesis places the palace on the site of an earlier tower house, which may have formed the basis for the present building. Its broad proportions, two storeys, attic, carved eaves, and formal stone façade reflect its Renaissance character. A municipal record dated 13 February 1722 states that Fernando de Atodo received timber, but the possible connection between this supply and a rehabilitation of the palace cannot be established.
Military and civic uses
During the period of the Napoleonic Wars, the palace was repeatedly assigned military and official functions. In 1808, arrangements were made to lodge “His Highness,” apparently a king. On 18 March 1809, 750 soldiers of Napoleon’s Imperial Guard, his elite military force, were quartered in the building. This extensive occupation probably damaged the palace. In 1812, the town considered moving the garrison barracks there, while the military commander ordered its windows to be made usable. The administrator replied that the necessary doors and windows were not present, indicating damage or alterations to the building’s openings.
Further wartime demands followed. In 1813, Atodo Jauregia was designated as a storehouse for 20,000 arrobas of straw, an arroba being a traditional unit of weight whose value varied by place and period. The municipality proposed using the convent of San Francisco instead. On 11 September 1819, the palace was selected to lodge the queen during her passage through Tolosa, and repairs were arranged. Later that year, a municipal commissioner was appointed to agree with the palace administrator on payment for the work undertaken for her stay.
In 1823, after serving as a barracks for many years, the palace was ordered to be vacated. A fire that same year affected its roofed annex, although the extent of the damage was not recorded. In 1844, a commission assessed the building’s condition and internal distribution for possible use as offices of the provincial deputation, a provincial administrative government body. That proposal was not implemented because a separate provincial palace, completed in 1856, was built for the purpose. Later in 1844, Atodo Jauregia was again proposed for offices because it was considered the town’s most spacious building.
Protection and restoration
A record from 1878 authorized an enclosing wall around the palace garden. The garden or orchard has since disappeared. Atodo Jauregia was declared a qualified cultural-interest property and a Historical-Artistic Monument on 17 January 1964. It is now divided into private dwellings. Modern conservation has included renewal of the roof while retaining its wooden structure and comprehensive restoration of the carved eaves in 1987, restoration of the main façade in 1999, and further roof rehabilitation in 2004.
Remains
Atodo Jauregia is a broad Renaissance building with two main storeys and an attic. One side is a party wall, a shared wall separating adjoining properties, while the other three sides face two streets and an alley. Its double-pitched roof, projecting eaves, stone elevations, balconies, upper openings, and sculpted coat of arms define the surviving architectural character of the palace, which is now subdivided into private dwellings.
Structure and elevations
Main façade
The principal façade is constructed from ashlar masonry, made with regularly cut and dressed stone blocks. It is protected by a double projecting eave, the lower edge of the roof that extends beyond the wall, carried by carved corbels, or projecting supports. The noble floor, the principal ceremonial storey of a traditional residence, contains wrought-iron balconies. The façade also bears an artistic coat of arms showing a rampant lion presented by two infant figures. Their expressive foreshortening depicts the figures as shortened in depth to suggest projection.
Roof and upper openings
The roof has two sloping planes and an interior wooden structure. The uppermost floor contains twenty openings arranged symmetrically, each formed with a segmental arch, a low arch made from part of a circle. The roof’s wooden framework and carved eaves have been retained and restored, preserving the relationship between the upper openings, the projecting supports, and the roofline.
Secondary façades
The remaining façades use rubble masonry, built from more irregular stones than the dressed blocks of the main elevation. Together with the party wall and the three street- and alley-facing sides, these surfaces establish the building’s compact urban form and distinguish the formal principal façade from the other elevations.
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