The Palacio de Santa Cruz or Palace of the Holy Cross is a

baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including ...

building in central

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

, Spain. It now houses the Spanish Foreign Ministry. It was used as a jail until the reign of

Philip IV of Spain Philip IV ( es, Felipe, pt, Filipe; 8 April 160517 September 1665), also called the Planet King (Spanish: ''Rey Planeta''), was King of Spain from 1621 to his death and (as Philip III) King of Portugal from 1621 to 1640. Philip is remembered ...

, when it was converted into a palace. Construction was commissioned in 1629 by Philip IV to house both courts and jail facilities. The architect

Juan Gómez de Mora Juan Gómez de Mora (1586–1648) was a Spanish architect, active in the 17th century. He was a main figure of Spanish early-Baroque architecture in the city of Madrid. Gómez de Mora was born and died in Madrid. His father, also , was a Sp ...

worked on it from 1629 to 1636, and later other architects like José de Villareal, Bartolomé Hurtado García, and José del Olmo added elements. In 1767 it changed from jail to the Palacio de Santa Cruz, due to its proximity to the church of Santa Cruz. A fire destroyed all but the facade in 1791.

References

Sources

History of the Palacio de Santa Cruz by Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores

Palacio de Santa Cruz. Entrada de Madrid Histórico
Santa Cruz Bien de Interés Cultural landmarks in Madrid Baroque architecture in Madrid Buildings and structures in Sol neighborhood, Madrid {{Spain-palace-stub