The best example of Toledo’s Mudéjar palace architecture

The Palacio de Fuensalida, built in the 15th century and commissioned by Pedro López de Ayala, is the finest example of a palace built in the Toledo Mudéjar style. Toledo Mudéjar is a blend of the Gothic, Plateresque and Mudéjar art forms into a type of architecture of which very few specimens remain in the Spanish heritage.

The palace is a building brimming with history. It stands in the Plaza del Conde de Toledo, between the Church of Santo Tomé and the Taller del Moro. Many illustrious historical figures lived within its walls, including Isabella of Portugal, wife to Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. The palace now houses the central offices of the President of the Castilla-La Mancha Community Council.

The building refurbishment consisted in restoring the palace's cultural features, correcting certain structural problems and making the building fit for its different uses.

The palace is built out of brick, masonry, wood and plaster. It is arranged around a rectangular central Mudéjar square and has two storeys plus a basement. The project included the dismantling and rebuilding of roofs and the reinforcing of the palace's frames, several outer walls and portions of the foundations to improve the building's stability.

Moreover, existing features of great architectural heritage value, such as coffered ceilings, ironwork, doors and plaster decorations, were restored. Spaces were also remodelled for use as offices and conferences rooms and entirely equipped with the necessary systems.

During project performance, important development work proved necessary in the refurbishing of the wainscoting and plaster decorations, whose polychrome decoration and importance were an unknown factor when the project began, due to the building's condition. In addition, for security reasons, the basement of the building, which used to be occupied by a restaurant, was incorporated into the palace proper and underwent major restoration.