La Casa Orduña - Guadalest

The "Casa Gran" of El Castell de Guadalest or "Casa Orduña" was built after the great earthquake of 1644 that devastated the region and devastated the dependencies of the castle. It was built by the Basque family of the Orduña family. They came to the Kingdom of Valencia with Infante Fortuna de Navarra; later they went to the service of the Cardona, admirals of Aragon. D. Sancho de Cardona received in 1543 the title of Marquis of Guadalest. When the Orduña enjoyed all the confidence of the marquises, they were sent to Guadalest and acted for almost three hundred years as alcaides of the fortress and governors of the marquisate. The house was burned and looted during the War of Succession (1708). In 1756 D. Pedro Antonio Buenaventura de Orduña y García entered the Military Order of Santiago, thus obtaining access to the nobility. The family procured to its members, not only economic relations or social influence, but also the best and most solid cultural formation that was possible to acquire in the second half of the 20th century. XVIII and throughout the s. XIX Among its members we find, fundamentally, lawyers and military. The current dependencies of the house correspond to the moment of maximum splendor and influence of the Orduña family exercised through D. Joaquín Mª de Orduña. The decoration adapts to the aesthetic tastes of the bourgeoisie that lived through the political changes of the second half of the century. XIX This building was a large house in a small town and therefore, immersed in a rural and inbreeding environment geographically far removed from the influences of important cities. The house occupies an irregular plot. On the east, it leans against and overcomes the rocks, on the west it is the neighbor of the parish church, occupying spaces above the chapels of the epistle. The building is supported by masonry load-bearing walls. Wood, plaster and ceramic bricks are part of its construction. It has four levels and a cellar all accessible by different stairs. ENTRANCE ROOM. The entrance door, framed by a sober semicircular stone arch, is surprised by the simplicity of the pointed arches of the room. It is decorated with religious oil paintings: The Immaculate Conception, The Most Holy Trinity, San Pascual Bailón, Santa Bárbara, La Virgen de la Rosa and Nuestra Señora del Carmen. ROOM OF THE ARCHES. Going up a small staircase, we enter a room where part of the awarded works are exhibited in the annual painting contest "Villa de Guadalest". ANTESALA AND SALA DE LA VIRGEN. In these rooms we can contemplate a small canvas; The family tradition testifies to having received a "Letter of Brotherhood" from San Buenaventura. Through this privilege the family was linked to the spiritual life of the Franciscans. The most interesting object in this room is a canvas painted on both sides. In its front part it shows an "Ecce Homo" (of unknown author) with the cane in his hands interlaced and a red cloak slipping on his shoulders. It is a proportionate figure and without concessions to the drama of blood. It has the peculiarity of being painted on both sides. The back (visible in a mirror), represents "The wounds on the back of the Savior", a rare theme in religious art. It is supposed to be a mouth curtain turned into a standard. In the next room, an urn keeps the recumbent processional image of Our Lady of the Assumption. It is a modern size, a copy of the one destroyed in 1936. It was owned by the family; it was lent to the town of Guadalest for the August celebrations and was always guarded in the house. The table placed on the front of the room, deals with the theme of "Transit or Dormition of the Virgin": the end of the earthly life of Mary as it is narrated in the Apocrypha. This piece of the s. XVI is undoubtedly the best piece of the house. It could be the altarpiece of the primitive church of Guadalest. It is attributed to the "Master of Alcira" and fits chronologically between 1527 and 1550. The monstrance kept in a showcase (18th century) is conceived as a radiant sun and its shaft is a figure with a Eucharistic symbol on its right hand and a cross on the left. We also find an oil painting of "The Immaculate Conception". THE KITCHEN and THE PANTRY. They maintain the original layout and many of the traditional utensils. In the inner courtyard a cistern is conserved. From the primitive north wall of the fortress you can enjoy a splendid panoramic view over the Guadalest reservoir and the Xortà and La Serrella mountain ranges. DINING ROOM. It contains an excellent collection of ceramics. It is worth mentioning the two Valencian pieces of metallic reflections (16th century), two jugs (late 19th century) and in the showcase, pieces of French, German and Valencian ceramics (18th-19th centuries). The visit continues going up to the noble floor. ROOM OF THE MAPS. The first room to visit on this floor is a small room. In it you can admire three mural maps printed in Paris in 1706. NOBLE HALLS On this floor the traditional arrangement of rooms and bedrooms is maintained. They show us how private life was conceived in past centuries. The furniture, canvases, photographs and furnishings in general are those of these rooms. In the first room we find a splendid collection of large format photographs of members of the Orduña family in the s. XIX; an old table, an urn with the remains of a crucifix for which the family felt a great devotion and a small bargueño inlaid with ivory and old drawings of Catalan origin (XVII century). In the second room we are surprised by another bargueño inlaid with ivory and tortoiseshell, elements of marquetry and a small, but interesting oil adorning the door. The decoration of this room is completed by a gunsmith, a set of carved wooden chairs and a collection of family photographs. In the last of these three rooms we find, a complete set of chairs, armchairs and sofa of Elizabethan period (c.1850), a showcase with small objects of decoration, two engravings of the s. XIX and two canvases with the themes of "The Adoration of the Angels" and "The Flight into Egypt" (18th century). Before going to the library, we observe a staircase with a blessing pile on the right. It tells us that, from there, you can access the Tribune Room located above the presbytery of the parish church. The Orduña could occupy this space by virtue of an ancient privilege granted by the archbishops of Valencia. LIBRARY. Undoubtedly the most attractive set of the house. It has a total of 1265 volumes. The Old Fund catalog (1500-1800) consists of 589 records. The books present diverse formats and forms of binding. It is a family library with three basic moments in its formation: First moment: last third of s. XVIII, being the lawyer D. Francisco de Paula Orduña, the person who more books (according to the exlibris) contributed to it. He introduced traditional legal issues and others that reflect the Spanish and European political effervescence, between the convening of the States General in France (August 8, 1788), and the Riego uprising (January 1, 1820). In a second moment they entered diverse books of religious, philosophical character and classic Latin, coming from the disentailment of the convent of Capuchinos de Callosa d'En Sarriá. In the third moment (1850-1890) legal literature, regulations, legal provisions, etc. are registered. When leaving the library we find a room adorned with bakers with the arms of the Orduña family, family trees, vintage work and embroidery and a wardrobe with traditional lighting tools: candlesticks, candlesticks, oil lamps, etc. An oil painting whose theme is the Battle of Almansa (1707) reminds us of the participation in favor of the Bourbon cause of Don Juan de Orduña y Andrés. Finished the visit to the noble floor we went up to the third floor. SHOWROOM. "The" Casa Orduña "offers the visitor a room for temporary exhibitions of painting and sculpture, periodically renewed. Through the old stairs of the house you descend to the ground floor from where you can access the castle of San José.