Palacio de Liria: Home of the Dukes of Alba
Why is it significant?
Peer through the railings on Calle de la Princesa, past the lawns and the trees, at the long neoclassical palace of pale stone with its columned centre. Most people walking to the shops never even turn their heads.
Key Facts
| Place | Palacio de Liria: Home of the Dukes of Alba |
|---|---|
| Address | Calle de la Princesa 20, 28008 Madrid, Spain |
| Geo Coordinates | 40.42800, -3.71280 |
| Part of Walk | Dukes, Monks and an Egyptian Temple: Madrid's Conde Duque to Templo de Debod |
| Generated | Generated |
Peer through the railings on Calle de la Princesa, past the lawns and the trees, at the long neoclassical palace of pale stone with its columned centre. Most people walking to the shops never even turn their heads. That is a mistake, because behind those windows hangs one of the finest private art collections in Europe.
This is the Palacio de Liria, built in the second half of the eighteenth century, with Ventura Rodríguez, the great architect of the age, shaping its final design. It was commissioned by the Duke of Berwick and Liria, and here the story takes a very British turn. The first Duke of Berwick, James FitzJames, was an illegitimate son of King James the Second of England. He fought for Philip V in the War of the Spanish Succession, won him the decisive battle of Almansa in 1707, and was rewarded with Spanish lands and titles.
His descendants married into the House of Alba, and the collection grew with every generation: Goya's portrait of the Duchess of Alba dressed in white, works by Titian and Rubens, and in the library, letters signed by Christopher Columbus.
In November 1936, during the Civil War, the palace was hit in the bombing of Madrid and burned out. Much of the collection had been moved to safety beforehand, but the building was a shell. It was rebuilt after the war, slowly and faithfully. Ten years before the fire, in 1926, the palace had seen the birth of its most famous resident, Cayetana, eighteenth Duchess of Alba, the woman said to hold more titles than anyone else alive.
For centuries this was a strictly private world. Only in 2019 did the family open its rooms to visitors. Now walk round the back of the palace to Calle del Conde Duque. And remember that battle of Almansa, won on Saint Mark's day... it will come back to you later on this walk.