Last week I said I would show you El Castillo de la Glorieta this week, so here goes.
The Castillo is located about 5 kilometers southeast of Sucre and was built by Don Francisco Argandoña for his wife, Doña Clotilde Urioste de Argandoña, in the late-1800s. Don Francisco made his money in the silver mines of Potosí, but unlike many of the mining barons in both the Americas, he not only used the money for trips abroad and grandiose residences but also for the care and education of the street children (orphans) of Sucre (more about that later.)
As my brochure says, "the castle is a set of different bodies mixing two or three styles and reflects the places visited by the Princes in Europe [and the Middle East]."
This is the front gate; notice the intertwined initials: "A" for Argandoña, "F" for Francisco, and "C" for Clothilde. (You can see them better on the picture of the back gate near the end of this post.)
And this was our first view after we stepped inside the gates. Notice the three towers. The tallest one is the Prince's Tower and has a Russian Byzantine dome on top. The second tallest is a replica of Big Ben in London. The third is the Princess's Tower in an Arabian style. The part of the building on the right was the stable (Arabian horses, of course.)
And each of those "peaks" has a horse's head under it, like this.
This is a statue of Don Francisco with some of his orphans.
This is what we saw when we entered the front door.
And this is the front hall where we lined up to buy our tickets. It is to the left of the front door.
This chapel is to the right of the front door.
The first room we entered after we bought our tickets was the dining room.
Notice how huge it is; it dwarfs the table which is set for 10.
Also notice the parquet floors. Each room has one but each is a different design.
Looking toward a side door; those are stained-glass windows.
As I mentioned, the chapel was on the right as we came in, and our guide said it was, of course, the "holy room." The dining room, in contrast, was "the devil's room". Why a devout Catholic would allow such to be said, I do not know, but these gargoyles near the ceiling are said to represent the dogs who guard the gate of hell. That second picture certainly looks devilish, doesn't it? It reminds me of Ghostbusters, how about you?
Also in the dining room is this beautiful marble fireplace with a huge mirror over it. Almost every room has a marble fireplace as a matter of fact, and the marble was brought here from Italy (along with Italian sculptors to prepare it.)
The next two pictures are examples of the ornate ceilings in all the rooms. Very baroque.
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| These bats were a decorative feature of the ceiling in one room. Don't ask me why! |
The next two pictures reflect the Moorish influence.
I couldn't help but think of the "Palacio Portales" in Cochabamba (Simon Patino's home),
which someone said was a combination of every style of architecture in history.
That's a good description of this place.
We were surprised to find that the Prince and Princess did not have separate bedrooms.
Maybe it was because they needed so much bedroom space for the orphans.
Anyway, they did have separate beds.
His bedposts represent the "king" in a game of chess; hers represent the "queen".
Shortly after seeing their bedroom, we came to the foot of the Prince's Tower which is built right in the middle of the castle. It has 108 steep steps. Farron and I were among the five from our group who actually climbed all the way to the top. If it had been open down the center, I couldn't have done it; looking down would have given me vertigo. But because I couldn't see anything but a wall on each side of me as I climbed, it wasn't at all scary - just breathtaking in the most literal sense. Here's what it looks like from just outside the entrance, looking up.
And here's what it looks like from the top, looking down (see the stables and Big Ben beneath us?)
Me at the top, after I got my breath back.
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Another view from the top, this time looking west over the rest of the grounds.
When we left the building for the grounds,
I took this shot looking back at the house and the Prince's Tower.
Can you see the walkway at the top of the Tower?
That's where I was standing in the picture above.
Farron wanted a picture with this ENORMOUS tree.
It must be hundreds of years old
and is one of the biggest in circumference that we've ever seen.
The grounds are very extensive; I don't know how many acres. Unfortunately, the government now owns the property so it isn't as beautiful as when the princes were living here.
This is a doll house Don Francisco had built for the little girls.
And this is a close-up of the inside of the doll house.
This miniature Parthenon was built as a place for meditation. Below is a closer look at it.
This first one depicts Pope Leon XIII granting the title of "Prince and Princess of Glorieta's Castle" to Don Francisco and Doña Clothilde on December 28, 1898. This important occasion took place at the Church of St. Peter in Rome. So far as I know, there has been no other royalty in the history of Bolivia; it has always been a republic.
This painting depicts Don Francisco and Doña Clothilde
with a group of their orphans. They adopted over 100 children!
The little boy seated to the left of Clothilde is the boy they made their heir.
If I remember correctly what the guide told us,
Don Francisco's sister was married to the King of Spain.
This is a picture of the two royal couples.
As we left the grounds we came through this gate,
which clearly shows the intertwined initials.
The guide took a picture of our group
in front of the main entrance to the Castle.
I guess it's good that he got so much of the building in the picture,
but unfortunately you can hardly tell who is in the photo.
It does give you a good idea of the size of the place though, doesn't it?
All in all, it was a fascinating visit and I'm really glad we were able to go there.
Okay that's all for today. Have a safe, happy, healthy week . . . y vayan con Dios!
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