PALACE OF THE MARQUISE OF FONTELA

This urban palace dates from the 18th century and belongs to the Marquise of Fontela. The complex has a Palace, an exterior chapel and a piazza with palms. It has recently been renovated (2010) to become the center of reception and information for the visitors to the region of the Camin Real de la Mesa.
The building has a rectangular floor plan and three levels separated by lines of fascia with an attic at the top. The walls are presented with painted plaster while the corners and the enclosing of the hollows are constructed from ashlars.
The main façade has a regular distribution of hollows, some of which boast forged balconies. The back façade has a lifted gallery at a first floor level.
On the main façade on the first floor, flanking the central balcony, there are two coats of arms. The first one representing the arms of D. Álvarez de Bandujo and the second belongs to the House of Solares. These shields were put in place at the beginning of the 20th century by Dña Gloria Fontela Campomanes as there were previously destroyed by the French troops of Napoléon Bonaparte in 1808.
The exterior chapel has a single nave and it is from an older period than that of the palace. The style seems to be a design from the architect D. Juan Miguel de la Guardia, very popular in the area at that time.