15th and 16th centuries
Built between the 15th and 16th centuries, the Palace of Las Dueñas takes its name from the disappeared monastery of Santa María de las Dueñas, located on the adjoining plot and demolished in 1868. Its origin was the palace-house of the Pineda family, lords of Casa Bermeja, who constituted one of the lineages of the patriciate of Seville. Its members held important offices as the chief notary of the city council and participated in warlike episodes of the Granada War. Later, the Palace was inherited by Don Fernando Enríquez de Ribera, 2nd Marquis of Villanueva del Rio and father of Antonia Enríquez de Ribera, married in 1612 to Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, the future 6th Duke of Alba. Since this date, the palace belongs to the Casa de Alba.
Nineteenth century
Antonio Machado Álvarez
Antonio Machado Álvarez
In the 19th century, Las Dueñas was converted into a neighborhood house, its rooms partitioned with partitions and coffered ceilings covered with ceilings. Strangely enough, one of the tenants, and administrator of the Palace, was Antonio Machado Álvarez, whose circumstance made it possible for the birth of one of the greatest Spanish poets, Antonio Machado, in 1875.
Machado evokes the first eight years of his life spent in Las Dueñas in these well-known verses:
“My childhood are memories of a patio in Seville and a clear orchard where the lemon tree ripens...”(Campos De Castilla,1912)
“It's this light of Seville... It's the palace where I was born, with its rumor of a fountain”(New Songs, 1924)
Machado evokes the first eight years of his life spent in Las Dueñas in these well-known verses:
“My childhood are memories of a patio in Seville and a clear orchard where the lemon tree ripens...”(Campos De Castilla,1912)
“It's this light of Seville... It's the palace where I was born, with its rumor of a fountain”(New Songs, 1924)
Twentieth Century
In the 20th century, Las Dueñas has been a meeting place for members of European dynasties and diverse personalities from the world of culture, politics and international art. Famous people have visited or resided in the palace, such as the Empress Eugenia de Montijo, the English politician and Hispanist, Lord Holland, Edward VIII and his brother Jorge VI, Alfonso XIII, Jacqueline Kennedy, Wallis Simpson, Grace Kelly and her husband Rainiero de Monaco, among others.
Foundation
Casa de Alba
Casa de Alba
The Casa de Alba Foundation, chaired by the 19th Duke of Alba, Carlos Fitz-James Stuart and Martínez de Irujo, and with the support of their two sons as patrons, Fernando, Duke of Huéscar and Carlos, Count of Osorno, has dedicated great efforts to the dissemination and opening of the Casa de Alba collection together with its palaces, the Duke's current residences, to offer the opportunity to enjoy and learn about his legacy. The Duke of Alba defends a policy of openness and closeness between Casa de Alba and the citizens of Madrid, of Spain and of any visitor motivated by cultural concerns. The Foundation was created after several years of work in 1973 by his parents, the XVIII Dukes of Alba, Don Luis and Doña Cayetana, who began with this step the work of conserving and disseminating the historical-artistic collections.
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