Castrelos Park, also called Finca de la Marquesa, is a unique place in Vigo to stroll around and let yourself be captivated by the smells, colours, and harmonious layout of its English- and French-style buildings and gardens.
In the middle of this green oasis that runs alongside the Lagares river, the Pazo de Quiñones de León emerges as a real treat for anyone who comes to visit this area.
This was originally the site of one of the towers used in the city to alert the population of the arrival of pirates on the Galician coast.
Today, it’s an imposing building with incredible gardens that are in themselves a delight to visit, which houses the Quiñones de León Museum.
- History of the Pazo de Quiñones de León
- What you can see during your visit to the Pazo de Quiñones de León
- Permanent painting exhibition
- Información para la visita
History of the Pazo de Quiñones de León
“Pazos”, or manor houses, were the most obvious sign of aristocratic power in Galicia and this is clear from the entrance to the building with the coat of arms that testifies to its long history. The coat of arms of Quiñones de León dates back to the old Pazo de Lavandeira, which was originally in the form of a keep. Around 1641, the building was partly destroyed due to the Portuguese war of independence.
From these ruins, Captain Juan Tavares built the first manor house in 1670, after having founded his own entailed estate a few years earlier, as can be seen in the coat of arms above the main door.
In the 18th century, the palace passed to the Montenegro family and in the 19th century, definitively, to the Marquisate of Valladares. In fact, at the end of that century, it was the Marquise María de los Milagros Elduayen who inherited the title and the site with its palace. Her husband, Fernando Quiñones de León, also Marquis of Alcedo, was the one who renovated it and gave it its name, and who finally decided its fate. When the Marquise died, it was her son Fernando who inherited the manor house. In 1918, however, he died without children and it was his father who, in 1924, donated it to the town of Vigo on one condition: that it should be a museum and public park.
What you can see during your visit to the Pazo de Quiñones de León
The palace building and its gardens alone are worth a visit as one of the finest examples of Galician palatial Baroque architecture still standing.
In fact, the complex is considered an Asset of Cultural Interest thanks, among other attractions, to its sensory garden, a route adapted for the visually impaired, through tactile and olfactory stimuli, which has even been recognised by the European Union as a unique place.
But if you cross the entrance gate, the Pazo de Quiñones de León houses two types of museums that are worth a leisurely stroll through, taking in the atmosphere of the typical buildings of aristocratic Galicia.
One of the spaces is occupied by the Municipal Archaeological Museum of Vigo, which is home to archaeological pieces collected from all over the region, while the other is filled with a curated selection of paintings from the 17th and 18th centuries.
It’s also impossible to walk through these rooms without noticing the furniture, the lamps, the carpets, and the decoration. The ground floor housed the servants’ quarters, kitchen, and storerooms, so the architecture is more functional there. Nevertheless, if you go up to the main floor, you’ll find the halls and rooms that allow you to imagine how the manor house was famous for its splendour in its time. That said, it doesn’t have the same exact layout as the original, as the building has been remodelled on several occasions.
It’s a shame that all the magic that there is to see in the palace’s furniture and decoration isn’t original to the Pazo, since the transfer of the building to the people of Vigo didn’t include its furnishings, which were sadly lost. In fact, what you can now see on the visit is thanks to the work done by the Vigo City Council, which has collected furniture and objects from the period to breathe life into the rooms of this incredible palace.
It also has a small chapel of the Pazo de Quiñones de León dedicated to the Virgin of Carmen, which is very austere and presided over by a 16th-century Plateresque altarpiece, the origin of which is unknown. The most curious thing about the piece is that it only has two bodies in order to fit in the available space.
But if there’s one thing you can’t miss, especially if you visit in winter, it’s the great secret that the manor house and its garden hold. In the wooded area, the manor house has an immense camellia, which is hundreds of years old and over 15 metres in diameter, which when in bloom provides a stunning contrast to the cold, damp landscape. In fact, this tree is the starting point of a famous Camellia Route that takes you to the best places in Vigo to see this flower.
Permanent painting exhibition
The Quiñones de León Museum has 29 permanent exhibition rooms in total, housing almost 1,500 pieces of art. While the manor house is public thanks to the efforts of Fernando Quiñones de León, the art here is due to the efforts of another patron and philanthropist fond of Vigo, José Policarpo Sanz.
It was Policarpo Sanz who donated his important collection of European art when he died, including works by Flemish, French, and Italian painters. In fact, some experts claim that there’s also an authentic Goya among them.
Most of these decorative pieces of painting and sculpture are located on the ground floor and also include collections from the Prado Museum and the former Spanish National Museum of Modern Art.
But the Quiñones de León Museum also has an annex building reserved for a very important exhibition of Galician archaeology and more specifically of Vigo and its region. The Archaeology Museum exhibits pieces ranging from the Palaeolithic to the Middle Ages, as well as the findings from the famous excavations at Monte do Castro.
Information for the visit (opening hours, prices, etc.)
Admission to the Pazo de Quiñones de León, both to the permanent exhibition area and to the temporary exhibitions, is free and open to the public. Exhibition hours are Tuesday to Friday from 10.00 a.m. to 2.00 p.m., Saturdays from 5.00 to 8.00 p.m., and Sundays and public holidays from 11.00 a.m. to 2.00 p.m. It is closed on Mondays.
This manor house’s museum also offers guided tours, which must be booked in advance, as well as a library that you can enter after obtaining prior permission.
