Palacio de Luces

The palace presents a large rectangular plan built of mixed masonry and well-cut ashlar stone, roofed with a four‑sloped clay‑tile roof, and rising two main storeys with an attic. External wall surfaces show a patchwork of rough masonry and dressed stone that corresponds to different building episodes. The complex originally formed the main residence within a broader agricultural estate and retains elements that record both domestic life and farm production.

The principal façade faces east and opens with three ground‑level portals, two of which are older lowered arches leading into a vestibule and then to a small covered central patio. The south side preserves the oldest openings in an irregular arrangement, while the north face reflects later work with a regular, symmetrical two‑storey composition and an external double stair added in the mid 20th century. All four corners are finished with projecting ashlar quoins, and a continuous stone string-course supports the roof eaves.

Heraldry and carved stone appear above one entrance where two Victorero coats of arms remain. A separate shield bearing a Maltese cross encircled by a Franciscan cord was inserted by a later family member who held orders of chivalry. An inscribed lintel dated 1829, originally from a lagar (cider press), now forms the surround of the long east–west hall’s fireplace, signalling the integration of cider production within the estate’s operations.

Inside, an entrance hall (zaguán), a covered passage, opens to a central covered patio around which the upper floor is arranged. The ground floor accommodated kitchens and service rooms historically and now contains administrative areas related to the hotel. A principal staircase at the rear rises to the main living level, which in the present configuration houses guest rooms that follow the original spatial distribution around the patio.

A crenellated perimeter wall encircles parts of the estate and includes a lowered eastern stone arch that gives direct access to the principal building. Sections of this boundary wall cross the interior hall and have been conserved and displayed as historic fabric within the current layout. Most agricultural annexes were removed during the 2005 conversion, but the rebuilt perimeter and selected wall fragments were kept and incorporated as part of the complex.

A small family chapel stands to the northeast of the house, built with an ante‑portico, a bell gable (low wall with openings for bells), and an external pulpit. Its painted altarpiece was removed and transferred to the chapel of San Roque in Lastres. Across the building fabric four constructive phases can be traced: the original late 16th-century work in irregular mortar‑filled masonry with decorative sgraffito; an 18th-century campaign that introduced larger dressed stone and the Maltese shields; a mid‑20th-century remaking of the north façade with the external staircase and reconstructed crenellations; and the 2005 conversion that reconfigured interiors, added service annexes, and integrated the perimeter wall into the hotel ensemble.

The palace retains much of its original volume and basic room layout despite many interventions over roughly 450 years. Portions of the first‑floor external walls and the south façade preserve older fabric in good condition, while the north façade is largely the product of 20th‑century rebuilding. The perimeter wall survives in conserved, restored, and musealized fragments that remain visible within the present complex.