DESCRIPTION
In the urban centre of Sancti-Spíritus, two old manor houses with Baroque façades are preserved on the present-day José Antonio street, today identifiable as outstanding examples of the locality’s traditional civil architecture. One of them is popularly known as Casa de Castro.
Both buildings stand out within the whitewashed, small-scale townscape that characterises the municipality, providing the urban ensemble with a more noble and representative presence.
HISTORY
These buildings form part of the historical residential heritage of Sancti-Spíritus and testify to the existence in the locality of families of certain social and economic importance.
In the case of Casa de Castro, it is said to be more than two hundred years old, placing its origin at least in the Early Modern period. Its permanence within the urban fabric reinforces the historical value of the street on which it stands and of the locality itself.
HISTORICAL-ARTISTIC DESCRIPTION
The two constructions correspond to a typology of rural manor house, integrated into an environment of popular architecture but distinguished from it by the composition of their façades.
Casa de Castro, located at Calle Mayor number 9, features a rendered and whitewashed brick construction, with characteristics of popular architecture and Baroque details on the façade. Three openings are noted, one of them framed by pilasters, while the others feature iron grilles, a frequent resource in this type of building.
The other manor house, also with a Baroque façade, shares the same language of domestic representation, contributing together with Casa de Castro to define one of the municipality’s most significant civil ensembles.
RELEVANT FIGURES RELATED TO THE POI
Casa de Castro is linked to the lineage or family that gave it its name, preserved in local memory as the popular identification of the property.
At present, the ownership of the house is mentioned in the specific case of Casa de Castro, although the heritage value of the building transcends contemporary ownership and relates to its historical presence within the municipality.
MOVABLE HERITAGE
The heritage interest is concentrated mainly in the façade architecture and in the constructional and decorative elements integrated into it.
INTANGIBLE HERITAGE
These houses form part of the urban memory of Sancti-Spíritus and represent the remembrance of a higher-status domestic architecture within a predominantly popular townscape.
Their preservation contributes to reinforcing the municipality’s historical identity and to better understanding the social and architectural diversity that existed in the locality.
