MORA, Juan Gómez de

The C�rcel de Corte is a building based on a four-wing design. This was the court prison which is now the Ministry of Foreign Relations. G�mez de Mora received the commission for the prison and delivered the plans which showed two internal courtyards - a concept derived from college building.

The picture shows the fa�ade of the building, now called Palacio de Santa Cruz.

The C�rcel de Corte is a building based on a four-wing design. This was the court prison which is now the Ministry of Foreign Relations. G�mez de Mora received the commission for the prison and delivered the plans which showed two internal courtyards - a concept derived from college building.

The first major structure built under the direction of Juan G�mez de Mora was the Clerecia Jesuit college in Salamanca. endowed by Philip III and Joanna of Austria. This building dominated the town, an immediate and intimidating neighbour to the cathedral, university, and Dominican monastery. Begun in 1617 with plans drawn up by Juan G�mez de Mora, the complex of church, college, and monastery was not completed until the middle of the eighteenth century.

The picture shows the roof area.

The first major structure built under the direction of Juan G�mez de Mora was the Clerecia Jesuit college in Salamanca. endowed by Philip III and Joanna of Austria. This building dominated the town, an immediate and intimidating neighbour to the cathedral, university, and Dominican monastery. Begun in 1617 with plans drawn up by Juan G�mez de Mora, the complex of church, college, and monastery was not completed until the middle of the eighteenth century.

The interior of the church is defined by the ceremonial Tuscan order. The design is similar to the Gesù in Rome, a four-bay pilaster church with interconnecting chapels, a broad transept, a massive dome over the transept, and a straight choir termination.

The picture shows the interior of the church.

At the beginning of the Baroque era in Spain, architectural innovations were restricted for the most part to religious buildings and civil structures played no significant role. One of the few exceptions to this was the residence and town at Lerma planned for Frencisco Sandoval y Royas, Philip III’s favourite, built by Juan G�mez de Mora together with his nephew Francisco de Mora, considered one of the best representatives of Herreran architecture. The ambitious prince had his palace built in the form of a four-wing structure with corner towers, modeled, on a reduced scale, on the royal Alc�zar in Madrid. This became the prototype for palace architecture in seventeenth-century Spain.

In 1617 Juan G�mez de Mora delivered the first drafts for the Plaza Mayor in Madrid, the assembly area in the town centre which was to serve court and city. In structure, this rectangular complex, surrounded by multi-story buildings of uniform height and arcades and the most part closed off from traffic, suggests French or Flemish models. In addition to the official royal offices which served as public administration buildings, it contained the Casa de la Panaderia, the city bakery, and therefore served both a community and a commercial function.

The Plaza Mayor was completed in 1619.