Pre-renaissance Manor Houses in the Basque Country (Spain): Analysis of the Loyola Tower Palace

Abstract

At the end of the fifteenth century, there was a shift from a defensive Tower House residential model to a type of palatial-style residential model. The Loyola Tower Palace, located in the Basque Country (Spain), is an example of this evolution. This paper aims to analyze the architectural elements and construction system of a Pre-renaissance Manor House. The work was divided into three sections: fieldwork, documentary research and the historical-constructive analysis. Six periods were detected: the remains of the original Fortified House, the Tower Palace, the mid-sixteenth century reform, the works undertaken by Jesuits, the interventions of the nineteenth century, and the more recent refurbishment. Finally, the building was also compared with other Basque Manor Houses.