The Escoriaza Esquível remains empty and unused. The Casco Viejo Palace has belonged to the Vitoria-Gasteiz City Council since 2010, despite this, it has not been used for more than five years. During the Green Age and the gastronomic era, it hosted many events and today is waiting for future use.
The use of the Museum of Natural Sciences is the use to which it is now heading. This is at least the announcement made by the County Council in 2021, for the transfer of the current collection located in Doña Ochanda. Although no progress has been made yet to make that a reality. It is true that the provincial council itself spoke on its day 2030 As the transfer date, but at the moment public announcements are minimal. In 2022, the county council also made the transfer conditional on finding funds to pay €17 million for the work.
Today, the Karekin asked for progress in this regard, while the Paris conference asks for more clarity on what use it will bring. However, the government team has not made any progress at the moment regarding the future use of the palace. “The body competent to determine future use as natural science is the county council,” Borja Rodriguez said.
The urban planning consultant confirmed, “The structural condition of the property at this time is stable and does not pose risks. The best way for the property not to collapse is to have a use for it.” At present there is no additional information in this regard.
Museum with history
The city council took over the Escoriaza Esquível Palace in 2010 and in the first years of its municipal ownership it hosted numerous events and exhibitions. Nowadays, it is barely open for guided tours.
It is the best preserved example of a Renaissance palace in the city.. In fact, it is listed as one of the most important architectural complexes of the 16th century.
In 2016, the Vitoria-Gasteiz City Council selected this palace as a palace Gastiz Antzoquia headquartersAn ideas competition was launched. The winning project was Il Sogno del Palacio.
The architectural study before the works was not as expected since then They found a fuel tank. Which means the final rejection of this project and the closure of its backyard park, which was opened a few years ago. Finally, the Gasteiz Antzokia Hotel will be located in Ruiz de Vergara Palace.
This is the palace
Fernán López de Escorriza, physician to King Henry VIII of England, and his wife Victoria de Anda y Esquivel ordered its construction in 1535. Curiously, he and his wife Victoria de Anda y Esquivel never lived in the palace nor saw its completion.
Interior of the Escoriaza Esquível Palace
The main facade in Plateresque style contains two busts of the owner and his wife. Both images are at the same height, which was innovative at the time.
The interior hides a stunning square courtyard with double arches covered by skylights. It is known as the annihilation of love due to its medallions and bas-reliefs containing metaphorical figures that accurately refer to this feeling. In this way we find Lucretia, a Roman noblewoman who stabbed herself after being disgraced, or Venus and Mars, who had forbidden love when she married the god Vulcan.
On the upper floor you can visit the room where the Royal Basque Society of Friends of the Country met.
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