Patio de la Infanta, Zaragoza, Renaissance courtyard in Zaragoza, Spain.
The Patio de la Infanta is a Renaissance courtyard in Zaragoza featuring ornate stonework and decorative elements typical of 16th-century design. The structure includes a central open space with columns and arcades, surrounded by multi-story walls that create an enclosed intimate setting.
Gabriel Zaporta, a converted Jewish merchant and banker from the Montsó area, built the palace on the street then called Nou (now San Jorge) around 1550 as a wedding gift for his second wife, Sabina de Santàngel. After a fire on the night of 11 September 1894 only the courtyard and staircase survived; the building was demolished in 1903 and the courtyard sold to the French antiquarian Ferdinand Schultz for 17,000 pesetas, shipped to Paris in 131 crates. Ibercaja bought it in 1957 and installed it in its headquarters in 1980.
The courtyard now operates as a cultural venue managed by Fundación Ibercaja, hosting exhibitions, concerts, and lectures throughout the year. The space brings together local and visiting audiences for programs that reflect the city's artistic interests.
The courtyard is inside Ibercaja's main headquarters on Plaza Basilio Paraíso, reached from Calle San Ignacio de Loyola; it is a covered, indoor installation rather than an open-air patio. It was moved here in 1980 after twenty years in storage, following its purchase from the Chauvierre couple in 1958. Look for the medallions of emperors and kings on the gallery parapet.
The dismantling began on 4 February 1903, the anniversary of Gabriel Zaporta's death. The French antiquarian Ferdinand Schultz bought the patio for 17,000 pesetas and shipped it to Paris in 131 crates by rail; it stood at 25 Quai Voltaire, under a glass roof, as his antiques shop window until Ibercaja's director José Sinués negotiated its purchase from the Chauvierre heirs in 1958 for 30 million francs.
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