Archbishop's Palace, Seville

Archbishop's Palace
Location within Seville
General information
Architectural style	Spanish Baroque
Location	Seville, Spain
Coordinates	37°23′11″N 5°59′31″W / 37.38639°N 5.99194°W / 37.38639; -5.99194

The Archbishop's Palace of Seville (Palacio Arzobispal) is a palace in Seville, Spain. It has served as the residence of bishops and archbishops of the episcopal sees and numerous nobleman and military figures to the present time. It is located in the southern section of Seville, in the Plaza Virgen de los Reyes, angled almost opposite the Giralda. It is situated on the northeastern side of Seville Cathedral in the neighborhood of Santa Cruz. Of Spanish Baroque architectural style, it has had the status of National Monument since 1969.

Records of January 4, 1280, show that in 1251, following the reconquest of Seville by Ferdinand III of Castile, the king gave walled houses in the Piazza Santa Maria to the Bishop of Segovia, Remondo de Losana in order to create the Archbishop's Palace. Remondo was the first bishop of Seville after the reconquest and the first to live in the new palace.

Over the centuries, it was extended until the mid-16th century when a series of major reforms left the structure around two courtyards, covering an area of 6,700 square metres (72,000 sq ft), occupying nearly an entire block. During the brief years of the Peninsular War, the palace was used as headquarters of the Army General Command, and residence of the Marshal Jean de Dieu Soult and his officers. During Soult's stay, many paintings and sculptures were brought to the palace including the one of the Beheading of St. John the Baptist and another depicting the resurrection of Lazarus.

An extensive expansion was done in 1704 by Lorenzo Fernandez de Iglesias, an important architect of the time, under the auspices of Archbishop Manuel Arias. The work joined together differing architectural styles, adorned with pilasters that are located on a broad base. The Main Hall (or Salon), painted by Antonio Mohedano, consists of four columns, two on each side of a ledge, adorned with two statues of saints. Mohedano was famous for the representations of natural objects such as birds, flowers and fruits. Hence, Juan Agustín Ceán Bermúdez in his Diccionario historico de los mas ilustres profesores de las Bellas Artes de Espana ("Dictionary of the most illustrious historical faculty of Fine Arts in Spain"), attributed to him the artistry of the ornamental ceiling elements in the Main Salon and the Prelate Gallery. In addition to the frescoed ceiling, there are 70 paintings exalting the Catholic Church. There is a mural of five Apostles by Juan de Zamora.