Casa Pilatos, Seville
How Ceramic tiles can create a beautiful palace.
The Casa de Pilatos has around 150 different 1530s azulejo design. One of the largest collections in the world.
Legend has it that Trajan’s ashes were brought to Seville and preserved in Pilate’s House inside a very valuable funeral urn.
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La Casa de Pilatos (Pilate's House) is an Andalusian palace in Seville, Spain, which serves as the permanent residence of the Dukes of Medinaceli. It is an example of an Italian Renaissance building with Mudéjar elements and decorations. It is considered the prototype of the Andalusian palace.
The Casa de Pilatos has around 150 different 1530s azulejo (Spanish glazed tile) designs made by the brothers Diego and Juan Pulido, one of the largest azulejo (tiles) collections in the world.
The building, is delightfully dilapidated with swirling tiled walls, elaborate domed ceilings with inlaid wood and overgrown gardens that are perfect for a siesta or for glimpsing the palace's current residents, the Dukes of Medinaceli.
The palace features unique architecture supposedly based on Pontius Pilot's estate, decor and even has a bust of Caligula. Construction was completed by Fadrique Enríquez de Rivera (the first Marquis of Tarifa), whose pilgrimage to Jerusalem in 1519 led to the building being given the name “Pilate's House.
Legend has it that Trajan’s ashes were brought to Seville and preserved in Pilate’s House inside a very valuable funeral urn. It seems that a maid tried to steal the urn and, thinking that its content was just dust, threw it away from the window. Since then, it is said that Trajan lives in each orange tree of the garden of Pilate’s House.
Image Source: Getty Images ©, La Portegna, Bold Bliss Blog, Google Images, Fundación de Medinaceli