Castril House. Archaeological Museum

The Catholic Kings granted his secretary, Hernando de Zafra, with the title of The Lordship of Castril. Hernando had plebeian lineage and was a native of the town of Zafra, Badajoz.

He was honored by the Catholic Kings for being part of the team that drafted the Capitulations of Granada. Once appointed, he took part in the city’s government together with Count of Tendilla and Fray Hernando de Talavera.

Hernando was first secretary of Enrique IV, then of the Catholic Kings and later on of Juana la Loca. With Carlos V, he asked permission to create an entailed estate in the town of Castril, following the instructions of the will of his grandfather.

This Reinassance palace-house is located within Darro's route. It was built in 1539 and is structured around a quadrangular courtyard with a garden in the rear that was used for the work of the easement.

Its elevation has two floors, although in the northern side, it has another floor and a tower, using the uneven land of its location.

The façade

The facade is displaced from the center. In the first body you can find the linteled door framed by half-columns on plinths and double ribbed shaft with anthropomorphic capital. The door is surrounded by double frieze with scallops, flying monsters and panoply of Roman, Muslim and Christian weapons.

In the keystone of the door lintel, a representation of the Comares Tower can be found, a coat of arms the Catholic Kings awarded him for being that precisely the place where Hernando de Zafra secretly went to sign Granada’s Capitulations with Boabdil.

On the second body, there are candelabras supported by satyrs and pilasters decorated with grottesque base. The center decoration is divided in two parts, in the lower the shields are supported by family shields supported by tenants, in the upper part we can find the phoenix and lions. At the top level there is a balcony surrounded by decorative friezes and roundels with busts alternating lady and warrior.

The front ends with a frieze decorated with monsters and anthropomorphic figures, whose centerpiece has a cartouche with the date of construction, 1539. The wing is supported by acanthus leaves dogs.

Another balcony is located right on the facade, on the corner and split in two by a column. This space contains the words "waiting for her from heaven," alluding to the brevity of earthly life.

About the façade author, the specialists are divided between Diego de Siloe and one of his disciples, Sebastian de Alcantara.

In the hall, covered by an ornate and carved wooden flat roof called “aljarfe”, we find the access stairs with stone railings decorated in Gothic style.

The Courtyard

The courtyard is arcaded on all four sides with canted arches resting on Corinthian columns made of marble.

In the upper gallery, arches are semicircular and are supported on stylized columns between which a wooden balustrade lies. Both galleries are covered with alfarjes or paneled ceiling, like the rest of the rooms. In addition, the coffering covering the stairwell that leads to the second floor stands out.

The house is currently the seat for the Archaelogical and Ethnology Museum in Granada.