Palacio Irarrázabal, Neoclassical palace in Santiago, Chile.
Palacio Irarrázabal is a two-storey residential palace with a mansard roof, built between party walls on Avenida Bernardo O'Higgins. Its academic facade features a prominent entrance courtyard. Architect Alberto Cruz Montt, a leading exponent of French-style architecture in Chile, designed the building in 1906.
Alberto Cruz Montt designed the palace in 1906 for the Irarrázabal Fernández family; Cruz Montt was a leading exponent of French-style architecture in Chile. The Círculo Español de Santiago, founded on 1 February 1880 with Benito García Fernández as first president, bought the building in 1940 under its president Miguel Lacámara Bazo, a forestry businessman from Villoslada de Cameros in La Rioja who had emigrated to Chile in 1917. Lacámara Bazo committed his own fortune to the purchase and commissioned architect Juan Martínez to convert the palace into the social centre. In 1958 he bought the neighbouring Palacio Ochagavía at the corner of San Ignacio and the Alameda and joined it to the palace; he died in Santiago in 1976.
The Círculo Español de Santiago, founded on 1 February 1880 by the city's Spanish community with Benito García Fernández as first president, moved into the palace in 1940. Its restaurant serves international cuisine, and the event halls are in demand for weddings. The name recalls the Spanish circle that has gathered here for decades.
The palace stands at Avenida Bernardo O'Higgins 1550, on the Alameda, and its entrance is set back from the street through an access courtyard. The Círculo Español occupies the building, so visits depend on the restaurant and event schedule; the venue is in demand for weddings. The 1940 conversion was entrusted to the architect Juan Martínez.
In 1958 Miguel Lacámara Bazo, president of the Círculo Español, bought the corner building at San Ignacio and the Alameda known as the Palacio Ochagavía and joined it to the Palacio Irarrázabal. Lacámara Bazo, a forestry entrepreneur from Villoslada de Cameros in La Rioja, had emigrated to Chile in 1917 and pledged his own fortune for the purchase. He died in Santiago in 1976.
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