Nigüelas – Casa Zayas

Casa Zayas is a stately residence from the 16th century, located in the town of Nigüelas in Granada, just 20 minutes from the capital. The house responds to the type of palatial Granada architecture, a powerful building centred by a courtyard with a marble fountain and surrounded by columns, with an orchard-garden at the back. It was conceived as a recreational estate, where ornamental gardens, orchard and architecture are integrated into a walled enclosure that prevents views from the outside.

The building has undergone numerous alterations. The last heiress of the Zayas family, Doña María Antonia Zayas-Fernández de Córdoba, bequeathed her estate to the Zayas Foundation, which bears her name. In 1992 the Town Council of Nigüelas carried out an expropriation of the romantic garden and the building, which was restored to house the town hall, a use that is still in force.

In 2014 the adjoining land was acquired, creating a new garden and an auditorium at the entrance to the municipality. The Zayas house, in addition to preserving its structure intact, has been furnished with furniture from the Universal Exhibition in Seville and part of the rich furnishings of the old Bibataubín palace.