History

Origins

CONSTRUCTION OF THE PALACE

The palace has a floor area of around 2,000 square metres. Built as a Sevillian town house in the 16th century, it was subsequently divided into two separate residences: one for winter, on the upper floor, and one for summer . A bound property in the 15th century, in the 16th century it was rebuilt. The façade we see today is eminently Sevillian in style and dates from the 16th century.

THE GREAT PASSION OF THE COUNTESS OF LEBRIJA

Although Lebrija Palace dates from the 16th century, it only really came to life in 1901, when Doña Regla Manjón Mergelina, the Countess of Lebrija, bought it and restored it. Work on this new family home continued for thirteen years.

The countess embellished the ground floor with some real artistic treasures, acquiring the famous collection of Roman mosaics and several archaeological items from different periods and cultures.
The rooms, too, were decorated with artworks from different periods: Sevillian tile borders from a ruined convent, coffering from a palace in Marchena, etc.

Regla Manjón was an illustrious, cultured lady with a passion for archaeology. She was the first woman member of the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de Santa Isabel de Hungría (the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary), and two years later, thanks to her own merits and to her favourable circumstances, she was chosen to be a member of the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando (the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of Saint Ferdinand) in Madrid. From 1922, she sat on Seville’s Provincial Historic and Artistic Monuments Committee.