Archiepiscopal Palace of Alcalá de Henares

Tower of Tenorio.

First it was a Mudéjar fortress commissioned in 1209 by Archbishop Rodrigo Ximénez de Rada (1209-1247), as a temporary residence of the archbishops of Toledo (Alcalá belonged to the archdiocese) and hence its name. It has suffered several fires and destructions, and has been remodeled several times to the present.[4]

In the Archbishop's Palace were held the Courts in 1348 and was enacted the Ordinance of Alcalá, in that was unified the administration of justice to all the lands that formed the Crown of Castile.

In 1308 the kings Ferdinand IV of Castile and James II of Aragon met here to agree and sign the Treaty of Alcalá de Henares by which were distributed the territories obtained to al-Andalusian Taifas during the Reconquista.

Also in the 14th century, Archbishop Pedro Tenorio (1377-1399) rebuilt the building fortifying it. He built a parade courtyard, rectangular, of more than 2 hectares. Surrounded by a walls with 21 towers; all rectangular except the albarrana of pentagonal, and the attached to it a semicircular plan. Currently are 16 towers, highlighting the "Tower of Tenorio" named in memory of the Archbishop.

In the 15th century, Archbishop Juan Martínez Contreras (1423-1434) build the east wing, decorated with large Gothic windows, the Anteroom and Hall of the Councils. The latter two were connected by a large túmido arc (in pointed horseshoe), and covered by a formidable Gothic-Mudéjar coffered ceiling.

On 20 January 1486, here was held the first interview between the queen Isabella I of Castile with Christopher Columbus to finance the trip to the Indies.[5]

In 1524 Archbishop Alonso de Fonseca y Ulloa (1523-1534) commissioned the architect Alonso de Covarrubias to construct the west wing, with its courtyards and its magnificent staircase. His successor, Cardinal Juan Pardo de Tavera (1534-1545), finished the work.

Throughout its existence it housed the archives of the diocese of Toledo. Subsequently, its facilities were used for the custody of the Notary Clerks and the Judicial revenue. And from 1858 to 1939 was the Central General Archive of Alcalá de Henares.[6]

Given the saturation of the Archivo de Simancas and its distance to the Court of Madrid, was determined the creation of the Central General Archive in 1858 in the Archbishop's Palace after its assignment to the State for this purpose by Archbishop Cirilo de Alameda y Brea (1857-1872).[7] This Archive received documents from the ministries and agencies suppressed following the reform of 1834. After the regulatory deadlines it forwarded the documents to the National Historical Archive, until on August 12, 1939 a fire destroyed the Central General Archive. Its successor, from 1969 is General Archive of the Administration (AGA), also in Alcalá de Henares.[8]

Since 1991, it is the seat of Bishopric of Alcalá de Henares, and residence of the bishop.

Disastrous fire of 1939

An early 20th century photo showing a complete and aerial view of the Archbishop's Palace of Alcalá before the disastrous 1939 fire.

The Archbishop's Palace was a barracks for tanks and ammunition, both during and after the Civil War, when, for the failure to prevent flammable materials that were there, there was a big fire. It was not the first suffered in its long history, but one of the most voracious, because it destroyed much of the buildings and the documentation kept there for three centuries.[9]

Among the artistic treasures that were lost in the Archbishop's Palace are: the Mudéjar coffered ceiling of the Hall of Councils, the monumental staircase of Covarrubias -author of the façade-, the courtyard of Fonseca, the courtyard of the Hallelujah, the facade of the courtyard of the Ave Maria, paintings, and the first archaeological museum of the city.

Arms of the Infante Luis Antonio, as Cardinal of Toledo in the main facade of the Archbishop's Palace of Alcalá de Henares.

The building has undergone numerous constructions and rehabilitations, being especially devastating the fire of August 11, 1939, which destroyed two thirds of its structure: three courtyards ("the Fonseca" or "the Covarrubias", "the Hallelujah" and the "Small garden" or "of the Fountain"), the "Staircase of honor", the "Facade of the Ave Maria", which was of Herrerian style and the "Garden of the Vicar". A rehabilitation of the less damaged parts was completed in 1996 and was necessary.[10][11]

Currently has 16 towers, highlighting the "Tower of Tenorio". Entering through the parade courtyard, appears the Renaissance main facade of the building. It is divided into two bodies, being the low of ashlar, with two floors of Plateresque windows that joins an upper gallery of gemanates arches. On the central window is a Baroque coat of terracotta, which replaced the imperial of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor. The blazon is of the Cardinal-Infante Luis Antonio of Bourbon, son of Philip V, first Bourbon replacing the Habsburg dynasty. This courtyard is closed at south by a cast iron grille, made in Belgium in the 19th century.[12]

In the east wing, where was the "Hall of Councils", was done in the 19th century a major restoration in its exterior and interior by Juan José Urquijo y Manuel Laredo, following the Neo-Mudéjar style. In 1997 was opened the restored neo-Gothic chapel that replaces the missing Hall of Councils. In the lower floor has made a modern auditorium, replacing the "Hall of the Queen Isabella".[13]

In the Archbishop's Palace it were again rebuilt several parties burned, others were restored, and still continue rescuing parts of those gems. Through the Tower XIV it can access the Antiquarium and visit some of those aforementioned remains, which have recreated partially the galleries of the Ave Maria, the large Courtyard of Fonseca and the Staircase of Covarrubias.

For decades held in Alcalá the representation outside of the play "Don Juan Tenorio" by Zorrilla, in several Alcalá's monuments, and one of it is always the Archbishop's Palace, even some year has staged exclusively there.

The Antiquarium is an outdoors museum placed in the inside of the walled enclosure and accessible through the fourteenth tower.

The Archbishop's Palace owes its name to that Alcalá de Henares for eight hundred years belonged to the jurisdiction of the archbishops of Toledo, who were also the primates -the most preeminents- of all Spain, and that here had their residence. This made that Alcalá de Henares was always at the center of religious power, which for centuries was also synonymous with the political.

In its facilities partially or totally recorded several film productions:[17][18]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Palacio Arzobispal de Alcalá de Henares.

• Bishopric of Alcalá de Henares Archived 2020-04-12 at the Wayback Machine
• Virtual tour through a reconstruction of the Archbishop's Palace of Alcalá de Henares (video with a defect, it shows the Tower of Tenorio without its spire and neither the clock of the palace that placed on the spire)
• "Adventures and misadventures of the Archbishop's Palace of Alcalá de Henares", Research work "a Senior University Diploma" from Jaume I University (written in Spanish)