SAN LUIS POTOSÍ, Mexico.- The majestic Palacio de Valle is a mansion that ended up becoming an architectural icon of Cienfuegos. With an eclecticism where Baroque, Neoclassical, Moorish and Romanesque styles converge, the monumental work was declared a National Monument of the Cultural Heritage of Cienfuegos.
Acisclo Valle began building his mansion in 1913, on land located in the Punta Gorda neighborhood and it was a wedding gift from Amparo Suero’s father, when she married Acisclo, a Spanish businessman based in Cienfuegos.
They established their residence there and the works finished in 1917, when they expanded the existing “Quinta Morisca” that previously belonged to Celestino Caces.
The design was carried out by an architect from Cienfuegos, Pablo Donato Carbonell, and executed under the supervision of the Italian civil engineer Alfredo Colli Fanconetti.
They built the eclectic building at a cost of one and a half million pesos. French, Arab, Italian and Cuban artisans worked with marble, alabaster, brass, glass and ceramics imported from Spain, Italy and the United States.
The Spanish carver Antonio Bárcenas made the exit door to the garden; Frank Palacios from Cienfuegos founded the railing of the main staircase, the shields and the ornaments on the front, in addition to the ironwork, in bronze; The Cienfuegos painter Miguel Lamoglia decorated the office of the owner of the house and painted the allegories of the Carrara marble staircase on glass.
Acisclo only enjoyed the Palace for three years, since he died in 1920 and bequeathed it to his wife and seven children.
The Valle Palace, with cornices that decorate the entrances to the different rooms, paintings and colorful mosaics, resembles a beautiful Moroccan Kasbah, a fortified space where the sultan settled.
The central floor of the mansion is preceded by two animal sphinxes, with the head and chest of a woman and the body and legs of a lion that personify the sun.
The entrance leads to a dining room of Mudejar influence, which imitates the famous Patio of the Lions, of the Alhambra, in Granada.
The building culminates in three towers: one Roman Gothic style, one Indian and one cute Arabic style, as well as a gazebo on the roof.
A metal spiral staircase leads to a roof terrace with pergolas and monaretes.
The property was abandoned in 1922, when the owner and her children traveled to Spain. Shortly after, it became the Hunters Club for some time. It was taken over by the Castro revolution in 1959 where an Art School was later opened.
The Palacio de Valle functions as a recreational-cultural center where various events are held. It has a restaurant attached to the Jagua Hotel and a Cuban food restaurant.
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2024-03-31 12:17:18
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