The 18th-century palace of the Marquises of Casa Recaño

Located in the elevated area of the old town, the Palace of the Marquises of Casa Recaño was built around 1730 for the Genoese patrician Bernardo Recaño, the first Marqués de Casa Recaño. It follows the typical layout of merchant houses from the 18th century, characterized by a sense of verticality and the specific architectural tastes of the era. The most distinctive feature of the ensemble is the Torre de Tavira, its watchtower. Being the highest in the city, it became an official lookout for the port of Cádiz in 1778 and was named after Antonio Tavira, its first watchman.

In 1812, the palace served as the first seat of the Supreme Court of Spain before it moved to Madrid. In 1838, it became the home of the School of Noble Arts of Cádiz. Today, the building houses the Museum of the Carnival. The palace is organized around a central courtyard with galleries where the main dependencies are located. It features a ground floor, a mezzanine for offices, a noble floor for the owner's residence, and a smaller final floor for servants. An additional floor was later added, though it is not reflected on the facade.

In the center of the courtyard stands a votive Tuscan column on a pedestal, featuring a marble image of Our Lady of the Rosary in its upper zone. To the left of the entrance, the main staircase opens with a doorway of a molded lintel and pilasters, topped by a broken pediment with volutes and a central shield. The building has three facades, with the main one on Marqués del Real Tesoro Street. This primary facade is organized around a large marble doorway as its axial element, featuring a lintel with curved pediment decorations and a balcony with a triangular pediment.

The other two facades open onto Sacramento and Javier de Burgos Streets and possess less ornamental importance. The main facade's first body is built with visible limestone and features small balconies for the mezzanine and a small door providing access to the tower. The two upper bodies have symmetrical balconies supported by brackets, ending in a wide frieze articulated with small pilasters and a prominent cornice.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons