Duke's Passage

The passageway created at the beginning of the 17th century that joined the Palace of the Duke of Lerma and the Collegiate Church of San Pedro. Today the section that can be visited is the junction of the Monasteries of St. Teresa and St. Clara at the Mirador de los Arcos. It is the only preserved section of the covered galleries that communicated in the XVII century, the Ducal Palace with the churches and convents of the town so that the Duke, King Philip III and his closest friends could move to the various offices without stepping on the public road. This section was built around 1609, following the Italian Renaissance tradition and in accordance with the palatial and urban conception of the Habsburgs, at the behest of the all-powerful D. Francisco Gómez de Sandoval y Rojas, the favourite of Philip III. Once the space of this unique monument, a narrow corridor elevated on arches and vaulted, the Historical Heritage Foundation of Castile and Leon has made an audiovisual installation that provides information about the character and the time of the Duke, the characteristics of the monarchy in the early seventeenth century and the relevance of the villa in its moments of splendor. However, an important part of this installation is devoted precisely to the decline of the Duke, the loss of royal favor, political satires and gossip of his fellow citizens, all through projections, virtual creations and sound effects in an evocative and somber atmosphere.