Palacio de San Telmo

The Palacio de San Telmo, seat of the Presidency of the Regional Government of Andalusia, is one of the great monuments of Spanish secular Baroque. Built between 1682 and 1796 as a school for pilots for the Carrera de Indias, its main portal of 1734, designed by Matías de Figueroa, is considered one of the peaks of Spanish Baroque in Europe: 24 statues of illustrious Sevillian figures flank an entrance arch covered in reliefs, garlands, angels and Solomonic columns of a decorative richness and density rarely matched. The palace was also the residence of the Dukes of Montpensier during the 19th century, who redesigned its gardens in the Romantic style and hosted the first cultural salons in Seville there.