The stones speak (EN)

This house next to the current Corral de Comedias was the foundation of the former Archpriest of the Order of Calatrava D. Diego Molina who was nicknamed the Old Man. An Archpriest is a priest who, by appointment of a bishop, has authority over a group of parishes in the same area. D. Diego the Elder founded with his goods an entailed estate in the second half of the 16th century and a patronage of pious works. This figure of the mayorazgo, consisted of a system of distribution of the family goods, in such a way that the first-born son was benefited. In this way, the bulk of the family patrimony was not disseminated, but could only increase. One of the clients of this patronage was D. Leonardo de Oviedo who received from this patronage the loan to be able to buy the Mesón de la Plaza and to found his mesón de las comedias. By 1676 the estate was held by Mr. Alonso de Molina Manjón y Cañizares, married to Mrs. María Espejo and deceased in 1684, who became "lord of the civil and criminal jurisdiction" of the town of Carrión, by letter of Charles V and the Council of Castile, due to the non-payment of the loan made jointly by Mr. Alonso and the Függer bank. They continued to hold the title of Lords of the Town of Carrión until at least the middle of the 18th century. Already in the 17th century, this estate was owned by the Maldonado Zayas family, who maintained it until the end of this century. Members of this family were members of the Order of Calatrava, as well as of the Royal Order of Carlos III. At the end of the 18th century, the estate passed to the Piñuela family thanks to the marriage of Mrs. María Ignacia Maldonado Zayas with Mr. Ramón Piñuela y Sánchez, a native of the city of Madrid. In the old parish church of San Bartolomé, this family had its own burial chapel, the so-called chapel of San Andrés, which was later called Nuestra Señora del Carmen and was located on the side of the epistle.

Johan Von Schüren, whose name was castellanized as Juan de Juren, was the first factor (Administrator of high rank) that the German bank Függer (Fucares) sent to Almagro with the purpose of taking charge of the administration of the goods corresponding to the Maestrazgo of the Order of Calatrava (agricultural, cattle and mining rents that corresponded to the Master of the Order). These rents were awarded to these German bankers as compensation for the loan that this bank granted to Carlos V, to opt for the crown of the Holy Roman Empire. His arrival in Almagro took place around the year 1518 and he remained in this city until he was relieved in the administration by his son-in-law Juan Xedler, in the year 1555. In this city he founded some palace houses where he fixed his residence, located in the nearby street of Franciscas, where nowadays there is an old flour factory, and of which its impressive façade was moved to this place in the last century. On behalf of these bankers he acquired several buildings, one of which is this one located at No. 3 Calle de las Nieves, which served as an administrative office and as a residence for the Counts of Fugger, in the event that these bankers visited this city. Juren, was a key player in the rebuilding of the old Ermita del Salvador (now San Blas), in which he placed the arms of his lords both inside and outside the Ermita. A great-grandson of Juan de Juren, moved to America in 1664 and from his descendants was born in 1783, the one who was the liberator of Venezuela, Colombia, Bolivia and Peru, Simón Bolívar. To another descendant named Dª Elena Damiana de Juren, twelve of his comedies were dedicated by Lope de Vega.

D. Pedro Castro Osorio, who was also called D. Pedro Castro y de la Guerra, was a Knight of the Order of Calatrava and the youngest son of the marriage formed by the Count of Lemos D. Rodrigo Enríquez de Castro and his wife Dª Teresa Osorio. As a knight of the Order of Calatrava, he was commissioned by the Order to go to Rome to collect the so-called "Bula del casar". A pontifical document that allowed the knights of this Military Order to be able to marry, something that was not allowed until then. He arrives to Almagro to marry Dª Ana de Orozco and together they founded a Mayorazgo (institution of civil law by which all the goods of a family passed to the first-born, thus avoiding the disintegration of the family patrimony), in favor of his only daughter, Dª Francisca in the year 1562. In this document of foundation of the entailed estate, the Prior of San Bartolomé was named as guarantor, allowing him to reside in this house, when the heirs of the same did not reside in Almagro. The house undoubtedly belonged to the family of Dª Ana de Orozco, since the coat of arms with her arms appears on a capital of the colonnade of the interior patio. At the present time this house is property of the Parish of San Bartolomé and serves as residence of the parish priest of the same one, being able to have acquired it this Parish after the disentailments carried out in century XIX, alleging the clauses of foundation of the entailed estate, as the old Official Chronicler of Almagro D. Arcadio Calvo assured.

Little is known about the owner of this house, the prothonotary D. Diego de Villarreal, except that he was the owner of this property as stated in the deed of formation of the entailed estate founded by his neighbors D. Pedro Castro, son of the Count of Lemos, D. Rodrigo Enríquez de Castro y Osorio, and his wife Dª Ana de Orozco, in 1562. An apostolic prothonotary is an honorary position within the Catholic Church that the Pope grants to an ecclesiastical member in recognition of services rendered to the Church in the fields of apostolate, culture, science, etc. Their vestments are similar to those of the bishops, being distinguished from them in the toquilla of the hat which is green for the bishops and purple for the prothonotaries. In addition to the mention of his name in the aforementioned deed of entailed estate, D. Diego de Villarreal appears in 1542 as founder of the chapter of the parish of San Bartolomé el Viejo. He also appears in 1546 as godfather, together with Diego Alfonso de Madrid, in the baptism of one of the sons of Diego Gutiérrez and Catalina Gutiérrez. And a year later, in 1547, also as godfather of baptism of a son of the marriage formed by Bernardino de Villarreal y Pisa and Dª Isabel de Obiedo. In the connections of the main almagreñas families of Judeo-converse origin made in 2018 by Valerio Fernández Simonneau and Arcadio Calvo, Bernardino de Villarreal y Pisa appears as the son of Fernando de Villarreal y Salcedo and his second wife Aldonza Rodríguez de Pisa. Among the children that this marriage had, and therefore brother of Bernardino de Villarreal, appears a Diego de Villarreal y Pisa clergyman of San Bartolomé, who could possibly be the founding prothonotary of the house we are dealing with, since it would be logical that he was chosen, in his condition of outstanding member of the church, as godfather of baptism of one of his nephews.

This palace seems to exist from the XV century, being property originally of D. Diego Alfonso de Madrid, lord of Valenzuela who acquired it by purchase and later it would pass to the Osorio Mexía family, without that we have news of when this transfer took place. The aforementioned transfer could have taken place thanks to the marriage of Mr. Gaspar Osorio Mexía, who was perpetual Alderman of Almagro and Lord of the Villa de Valenzuela, with Mrs. Catalina de Zúñiga y Obiedo, granddaughter of Mr. Diego Alfonso de Madrid, and possible heiress of the property. This family of noble landowners were dedicated to cattle breeding. They came from the kingdom of Galicia, where they were related to the Marquises de la Guardia, who were great of Spain. Gaspar Antonio Osorio y Narváez, first Marquis of Torremejía and knight of the Order of Santiago, who was the owner of the palace in the middle of the 18th century, had to undertake a substantial reform of the building, including the reform of its façade. In it, he painted his coat of arms, which included the marquess' crown (now disappeared) and the cross of Santiago, located behind the coat of arms. D. Gaspar Antonio was born in Almagro, he was baptized in the Parish of San Bartolomé in 1688. He was one of the three natural children of D. Gaspar Bernardo Bernardo Osorio Mexía of María Josefa de Narváez to whom D. Gaspar gave word of marriage that later he did not fulfill, as the Rector of the Mother of God informs us that acted as witness in the file of concession of the habit of Knight of Santiago of D. Gaspar Osorio "... is natural son of D. Gaspar Bernardo and Dª María Josefa Narváez, to whom they procreated being both single, under word and hand of marriage, that they did not fulfill... ". D. Gaspar Antonio Osorio y Narváez, received from Carlos III, by Real Célula of December 16, 1734, the title of the Marquisate, in compensation for the services rendered, by the new Marquis, in the battle of Bitonto in Naples, in which with his squadron of Carabineros put to flight the German Cuirassiers. The title of Marquis was subsequently countersigned in Spain on January 10, 1735. His father's brother Mr. José Cayetano Osorio Narváez, who was titled Lord of Valenzuela and held the position of Major Constable of the Holy Office of the city of Toledo, succeeded him in the marquisate by express mention of Mr. Gaspar in his testamentary clauses. D. José Cayetano added for the family the Lordship of Picón thanks to his marriage with the holder of such Lordship, Dª Teresa Narcisa Rodríguez de Ledesma y López de Guevara. His descendants left the Order of Santiago, whose habit several of his ancestors had worn, even holding the title of Masters in this Order, and professed in the Order of Calatrava. In the middle of the XX century and to the death of the holder of the marquisate Mr. Ramón de Alfaraz y Medrano, happened in 1936 and without having descendants of his marriage with Mrs. María Jesús Argandoña y Argandoña, the building was donated to the Order of the Dominicans, who gave it to the nuns of the Santísimo Sacramento who founded in it a feminine Home School under the name of Nuestra Señora del Rosario. In the year 2010 the teaching activity by the nuns ended, being dedicated since then to various activities. At the end of October 2015 and due to the transfer of the nuns to a new convent outside the town, the building returned to be owned by the Dominicans. In March 2019 the building was sold to a Mexican politician and businessman, who in the last century also acquired the coffered ceiling of the former University of Our Lady of the Rosary. The building, which occupies the entire block, is composed of two old buildings, on one side the original Torremejía Palace and on the other the former Hospital de las Ánimas. The hospital building was annexed to the palace after a swap made by D. José Cayetano Osorio, then holder of the marquisate, after a devastating fire occurred in this hospital in 1767.

This house was the main residence of the Marquises of Añavete and Villaytre or Villaster, passing the property later to the Count of Valdeparaíso, after his marriage to one of the descendants of these Marquises, María del Padre Eterno Barona y Rozas. The first known owner was Dª María de las Virtudes Arias y Porres, who was the first holder of the title of Marquesa de Añavete. This marquisate was created by King Carlos II in 1696, in the figure of this lady, in recognition of the merits of her uncle D. Manuel Arias y Porres, who was Bishop of Seville and Governor of the Supreme Council of Castile. The name of this marquisate refers to a place near Almagro, located between the current municipalities of Granátula de Calatrava, Moral de Calatrava and Almagro, later known as "La Caridad". Doña María married Mr. Andrés Antonio de Rozas y Treviño de Loaisa, former Knight of the Order of Calatrava, with the title of Commander of Torroba and landowner dedicated, as his family had been, to receive rents from his agricultural and livestock exploitations. One of the daughters of this marriage named María del Padre Eterno Rozas Arias y Porres Loaisa Oliver y Treviño, second Marquise of Añavete, married the second Marquis of Villaytre Mr. Francisco Sancho Barona y Rozas, also Knight of the Order of Calatrava and nephew of the Marquise, (since this Marquise was a first cousin of Mr. Francisco's mother). The marquisate of Villaytre, was created as such by the king Felipe V, in 1746, although previously it already existed with the name of Villaster, in the person of the father of D. Francisco of name D. Gaspar Sancho Barona y Rozas. A granddaughter of this I Marquise of Añavate, Dª María del Padre Eterno Barona y Rozas, who in turn also had the title of Marquise of Villaytre, by paternal inheritance, was the one who married in Almagro in 1734 with D. Juan Francisco Gaona y Portocarrero II Count of Valdeparaiso and Minister who was of Finance with the king Fernando VI. At the death of Dª María del Padre Eterno in 1755, the property of the building passed by inheritance to her husband and from him to his descendants titled as Counts of Valdeparaiso, Añavete and Villaytre, until its sale at the end of the eighties to the Provincial Council of Ciudad Real. The building was then completely renovated and rented to the University of Castilla la Mancha to be used as a Summer University, later as a place for Congresses and summer courses, on the occasion of the International Festival of Classical Theater and currently the Provincial Council is using it as a tourist residence. The Marquisate of Villaytre was separated from the previous ones, in the XIX century, in the person of Mr. Alfonso Manuel de Ciria y Gaona, brother of the V Count of Valdeparaiso and VI Marquis of Añavete. D. Alfonso Manuel moved to Havana where he settled and married the Cuban Dª Micaela Vinent y Gola, thus generating a new family branch in the New World.

The Strozzi Family was one of the most important families in Florence since the 14th century. Due to their confrontation with the Medici family they had to flee Florence and settled in the city of Siena. In the middle of the 15th century they were able to return to Florence and thanks to the fortune accumulated in their financial business they started the construction of a palace in the Florentine city which is nowadays one of the most important palaces in Florence. At the beginning of the 16th century and also due to their dedication to the mining business, the first of the members of this family, Eduardo Strozzi, appeared in Almagro, who came accompanying another important personage of the time, the Milanese Gaspar Rotulo, in order to take charge of the administration of the Almaden mines. Eduardo Strozzi married Dª Ana de Torres in Almagro, thus starting a family saga that lasted in Almagro until the end of the 17th century. Like any illustrious family of the town, they established marital ties with other outstanding families of Almagro, such as the Obiedo, Quartas or del Salto families.

The old Almagro granary was founded in 1614 during the reign of Philip III by Alonso de Fuen Mayor. This space was used as a cereal deposit. Its function was to make cereal loans to the neighbors who needed it and also to store grain for the times when there was a bad harvest. Later, it was also used as a post office and is currently in disuse.

The building that housed the jail in the eighteenth century became a health center in the last quarter of the twentieth century. It is currently the municipal library Manolita Espinosa, as a tribute to one of the most important Spanish writers, essayist and poet of the last century and present of Almagro.

The lineage of this family comes from the town of Zúñiga, in Navarre, from where it takes its name. The branch of this family settled in Almagro comes from the Dukes of Béjar, since a great-granddaughter of the first duke named Juana came to Almagro to marry Diego Alfonso de Madrid, who was the son of the former treasurer of Carlos V, Marcos de Madrid. A son of this marriage, D. Juan, married the descendant of another of the most notable houses of Almagro, Dª Isabel de Oviedo, and their descendants became lords of the neighboring town of Valenzuela. This family was related to the most illustrious lineages of the noble panorama of the province of Ciudad Real, thanks to their marriage policy. Thus, we find them related to important local families such as the Obiedo, Caballería, Vélez de Jaén, Juren, Medrano, Osorio, etc. One of the branches of this family, specifically the one related to the Osorio lineage, was granted in 1734 the title of Marquis of Torremejía, in compensation for the services rendered to the crown by the first Marquis, in the battle of Bitonto in Naples. Some of its members occupied important positions within the Tribunal of the Holy Inquisition, case of D. Antonio de Zúñiga Bravo, who became Minister of the Holy Office of the city of Toledo and Secretary of this organism in the island of Sardinia. The burials of this family were mainly in the old parish church of San Bartolomé, located next to the Palacios Maestrales, in the place currently occupied by the gardens of the Plaza Mayor.