Amid Seville’s many tiled façades and opulent palaces, the Palace of the Countess of Lebrija (Palacio de la Condesa de Lebrija) remains one of the city’s most enchanting hidden gems. Tucked away on Calle Cuna in the historic center, its modest exterior hides from the general public the marvels inside. But once you step through the doors, you’re suddenly surrounded by what’s often called “the best paved palace in Europe.” I was completely spellbound the first time I visited. Roman mosaics stretched beneath my feet, Moorish arches rose around me, and every corner whispered a story shaped by centuries of history and one remarkable woman’s bold vision. Come with me to explore this incredible palace, which for me is an absolute must-see in Seville!!
Historical Background
The Palace of the Countess of Lebrija (Palacio de la Condesa de Lebrija) originated as a noble Sevillian manor in the 15th century. It was later reimagined in the 16th century with the classic Andalusian layout: a central patio open to the sky, with rooms arranged around it. Like many homes of its kind, the ground floor was used during the hot summer months, while the upper floor was reserved for the cooler winters.
Over time, the house passed through the hands of various noble families, including the Counts of Corbos and later the Counts of Miraflores. But by the turn of the 20th century, it had fallen into a state of decline. That changed dramatically in 1901, when Doña Regla Manjón Mergelina, soon to be the Countess of Lebrija, bought the property and set out on an ambitious restoration. Her goal? To turn it into both her home and a personal museum for the antiquities she had spent years collecting.
She personally oversaw the transformation, a process that took thirteen years and was completed in 1914. Along the way, she was officially granted the noble title “Countess of Lebrija” by King Alfonso XIII in 1912. What she created was more than just a grand residence; it became a “living museum” where art, archaeology, and architectural beauty came together under one roof.
After her death in 1938, the palace remained in the family. In the late 20th century, it was carefully restored once again, this time to open its doors to the public. Today, visitors can explore the very halls where the Countess lived, collected, and preserved history with vision and passion.
The Life and Legacy of the Countess of Lebrija
Regla Manjón Mergelina, the Countess of Lebrija, was far from a typical aristocrat. Born into nobility in the 19th century, she grew into a formidable scholar, visionary art collector, and one of Spain’s earliest female voices in archaeology. Widowed at a young age, she channelled her grief into a lifelong devotion to the arts and antiquities, travelling across Europe and excavating Roman ruins, especially those in nearby Italica. In 1912, she was granted the revived noble title of Countess of Lebrija, but instead of investing her wealth in status symbols or fashionable luxuries, she poured her resources into scholarship and preservation.
Italica
The archaeological site of Italica, just outside Seville in Santiponce, was the first Roman city in Spain and the birthplace of emperors Trajan and Hadrian. Known for its vast amphitheatre and beautifully preserved mosaics, Italica offers a vivid glimpse into Roman life. In the 19th century, many locals in Italica were unaware of the historical value buried beneath them. When ancient mosaics were uncovered, they were often mistaken for rubble and destroyed to clear space for new buildings. But Regla Manjón Mergelina saw their true importance and made it her mission to rescue and preserve these priceless remnants of the past before they were lost forever.
In an era when women were largely excluded from academic institutions, the Countess defied convention. She became the first woman admitted to Seville’s Fine Arts Academy, joined the Royal Academy in Madrid, and took a leading role in heritage conservation as a member of the Provincial Commission of Historic and Artistic Monuments.
Today, the palace stands as a living tribute to her life’s work, a museum where every mosaic, sculpture, and relic speaks to the transformative power of female patronage in a world that rarely made space for women’s voices.
Entering the Palace
As I stepped through the gilded wrought iron gate and into the cool shade of the palace’s entrance hall, my feet met the first of many jaw-dropping floor mosaics. This one is opus sectile, a decorative technique, closely related to pietra dura, that flourished in the Roman world during antiquity and the medieval era. It involves cutting and inlaying materials, such as marble, mother of pearl, or colored glass, into walls or floors to create intricate images or patterns. Unlike traditional mosaics, which use numerous small, uniform pieces (tesserae) to build a design, opus sectile employs larger, custom-shaped segments that can define entire sections of the composition. Each piece is finely polished, then meticulously trimmed to fit the overall pattern with precision and visual impact.
This spectacular treasure was rescued by the Countess herself from the ruins of Italica in 1914. It was discovered in a hillside olive grove known as Los Palacios, just above Italica’s amphitheatre, where grand Roman villas once stood. Upon learning of the findm, a mosaic fragment depicting Leda and the Swan, he Countess swiftly acquired the land to prevent the mosaic’s destruction, employing painstaking care to extract and reinstall the full floor in her home.
Measuring nearly seven meters across, the mosaic is composed of twenty-five medallions, including mythological scenes like Pan playing his flute. He is portrayed as a graceful youth, his expressive face radiating a warm, joyful energy. With his gaze lifted upward and a traditional flute held in his right hand, he appears to be singing. His half-open, smiling mouth adds a lifelike vibrancy to the figure.
In each of the four corners, the seasons of the year are personified as female busts. Winter wears a crown of bare branches, Spring is adorned with flowers, and Autumn is crowned with bunches of grapes. Summer, crowned with golden wheat, stands out for her exceptional beauty and the artistry of her execution, making her the most striking of the four.
The design also features scenes from the myths of Zeus’s many transformations, including Europa with the bull, Ganymede carried by the eagle, and Danaë bathed in golden light. Woven throughout are elements drawn from Roman, Greek, and even Egyptian traditions, such as the Apis bull and a river god resembling the Nile, highlighting the rich cultural fusion that defined Roman Hispania.
Athena
Standing watch near the central patio is a striking statue of Athena, known to the Romans as Minerva. Positioned at the entrance to the main hall, the figure depicts the goddess wearing a helmet and bearing the gorgoneion, Medusa’s head, which Perseus had gifted to her, on her chest. She is captured in a dynamic, combative stance, with her right arm outstretched and her leg stepping forward. This posture causes her garments to flow in lively, curved folds, adding a sense of movement and energy to the sculpture.
The Guided Tour Upstairs
If you have time (and I recommend that you do), consider joining one of the guided tours of the upper floor. This part of the palace isn’t just about mosaics, it’s about the woman behind them. The upstairs rooms have been left almost exactly as the Countess lived in them.
Grand Staircase
To enter the private apartments upstairs, you ascend the awe-inspiring grand staircase. The walls are lined with hand-painted blue and yellow tiles, beautifully complemented by vivid yellow paint that makes the entire space feel like stepping into a sun-drenched jewel box, bright, elegant, and full of character.
Above your head, take not of the wooden roof, gilded and is carved with geometric star patterns. These eight-pointed star motifs are central to Islamic geometric art and appear frequently in Moorish architecture across Spain, especially in Andalusia. In Islamic thought, geometric patterns often reflect ideas of infinity, unity, and divine order. The repetition and balance are symbolic of the eternal nature of God and the complexity of the universe. Stars in particular can symbolize light, guidance, and celestial perfection.
Upper Floor
Between the galleries and the house’s façade lies a spacious hallway that the Countess of Lebrija envisioned as a “grand hall,” enclosing a large courtyard that overlooks the pedestrian street below. Stained glass windows cast kaleidoscopic light onto marble floors, while ornate lamps hang from wooden beams, adding a glow of old-world opulence.
Doña Regla Manjón, had a deep appreciation for collecting bargueños, also known as bufetes, which can be seen throughout the rooms of the palace. These are ornate wooden cabinets crafted between the 16th and 18th centuries, often decorated with intricate marquetry and inlay (taracea), originally designed for storing documents and easily transportable. The display cases are densely filled with a wide assortment of glassware and porcelain, with a particular emphasis on delicate decorative figurines.
Other rooms showcase exquisite ceramics from Triana, delicate Chinese porcelain, and Gothic-era religious sculptures. The drawing rooms are furnished with hand-carved chairs, silk tapestries, and 17th-century paintings, blending Andalusian warmth with European sophistication.
Tucked away inside the palace is a serene private chapel, preceded by an elegant 18th-century plaque that marks its entrance. At the heart of this intimate space hangs a striking crucifix, crafted in an oriental style that sets it apart from traditional European depictions. On either side stand expressive Baroque statues of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, their richly detailed forms adding a sense of solemn grandeur. The chapel blends devotional art with personal reflection, offering a quiet corner of spiritual beauty within the otherwise vibrant palace.
One of the most personally cherished rooms by the Countess of Lebrija, the library holds a quiet, contemplative atmosphere that speaks to her love of knowledge and history. Here, part of the family’s archive is preserved, including meticulously arranged collections of personal and official correspondence. Each letter is carefully filed, offering a glimpse into the intellectual and social world of the Countess. The space feels less like a formal archive and more like a private retreat, where curiosity and scholarship were nurtured among shelves of books and handwritten memories.
Outdoor Patio
Back on the ground floor, take a moment to step outside, onto the back patio. These enclosed patios of Seville have their roots in Roman domus architecture. Built for privacy, shade, and tranquility, these inward-facing courtyards provided a cool refuge from the heat and a space for family life, hidden from public view. Moorish influence introduced fountains, lush greenery, and an emphasis on spiritual retreat, while later Christian styles added colorful tiles and decorative flourishes.
Dining Room
Step out from the patio and into the dining room, where the cheerful blue and yellow palette continues to shine. Blue tiles climb partway up the walls, playfully contrasting with sunny yellow paint and dark wooden ceiling beams above. The style here isn’t just beautiful, it’s deeply rooted in history. Sevillian tilework dates back to the days of Al-Andalus, when Muslim artisans introduced tin-glazing and intricate geometric designs inspired by Islamic art. Because Islamic tradition avoided human figures, these early tiles focused on mesmerizing patterns, flowing plant motifs, and elegant calligraphy.
The Countess of Lebrija acquired a valuable collection of Sevillian Renaissance tiles, which originally came from the Convent of San Agustín following its confiscation during the period of ecclesiastical disentailment. One particularly striking piece is a decorative façade framed by a spiral column and a caryatid, now installed on the rear bench that faces the garden.
By the 16th and 17th centuries, Seville had become a major production center for tiles, exporting them across Spain and to the Americas. Techniques like cuerda seca (dry cord) and arista (raised-line) relief were refined here, enabling the mass production of elaborate multicolored patterns that still adorn churches, palaces, and public buildings.
These reflected the Islamic artistic tradition of infinite, repeating patterns that symbolize divine unity and order. Interlaced stars, lozenges, and floral arabesques were meant to suggest the perfection of the cosmos. Birds, vines, fruits, and fountains are common, symbolizing abundance, paradise, and the cycle of life. Tiles featuring pastoral scenes or musicians also brought storytelling and entertainment into private and public spaces. Particularly in palatial settings, tiles sometimes depict Greco-Roman gods, virtues, or allegorical figures, linking the household to classical ideals of virtue and beauty.
Salon
Just across from the patio facing dining room, you can step into the small salon where Venetian mirrors and Flemish paintings coexist with Moorish tiles and Roman columns.
Roman Treasure Rooms
The remainder of the ground floor of the palace’s room are dedicated ot their astonishing collection of Roman mosaics. Each mosaic is a visual narrative. The detail is exquisite: tesserae arranged in gradients of ochre and slate, bringing ancient stories to life beneath your feet. Scattered throughout are marble statues, busts of Roman nobles, and carved inscriptions, a miniature archaeological park nestled within a palatial home.
Octagonal Hall
The Octagonal Room, which once featured a central fountain, is adorned with floor mosaics that reflect a distinctly classical style, likely dating back to the reign of Emperor Hadrian. This room holds special significance, as the mosaic here was the very first piece the Countess acquired in 1901. It was this discovery that sparked her passion for collecting and ultimately led to the ambitious transformation of the palace into the remarkable space we see today.
Medusa Room
The Roman mosaics adorning the Medusa Room are strikingly beautiful, with the room deriving its name from the iconic Medusa head featured at the mosaic’s center.
Dionysus Room
From the Medusa Room, you enter another exquisite chamber known as the Dionysus Room. Its floor is covered by yet another impressive Roman mosaic, this one featuring geometric patterns. The room takes its name from a Roman-era bust depicting the god Dionysus.
The evolution of black and white mosaics on the Iberian Peninsula mirrors a similar trend seen in Italy during the 1st and 2nd centuries AD, reflecting the tastes of the Hispanic elite and their admiration for the artistic styles of the Roman capital. In Italica (Santiponce, Seville), the mosaics reveal the influence of highly skilled workshops, characterized by the use of detailed preparatory drawings. While color plays a prominent role in these designs, it is often applied in a more subdued palette.
Hall of Columns
This room is the largest within the palace’s collection, distinguished by two prominent Roman columns, one crafted from green marble and the other composed of multicoloured marble. Known as the Hall of Columns, it showcases a striking floor mosaic encircled by a wide border of large ceramic tiles.
One of my favourite mosaics features the Latin word Salve, which translates to “Hello” or “Welcome.” While salve is the more commonly used form, the variation salva could have been chosen to emphasize a deeper wish, something closer to “be safe” rather than just a casual greeting. Stepping over this word as you enter feels like receiving a quiet blessing, a warm wish for safety and well-being as you pass through.
The Palacio de la Condesa de Lebrija is so much more than just a beautiful building. What really makes it stand out isn’t just the stunning Roman mosaics or the intricate Mudéjar details, but the passion and vision of one remarkable woman who brought a crumbling house back to life. It’s rare to find a place that feels both deeply personal and historically rich. For me, this wasn’t just another sightseeing stop, it felt like stepping into someone’s lifelong dream, a quiet conversation with the past that still lingers in every corner.
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