In the early 16th century, the House of Arias Dávila established the Palace of Hoyuelos as the seat of its domain, a territory comprised of shady forests, arable lands and peasant households. The estate was reconverted by the Law of Jurisdictional Domains into the present day Barony of Hermoro.

It transpired that the founder of the House and lineage, Pedro Arias Dávila, educated at the court of Don Juan II, gave up hunting and greyhounds, songs and reading, in order to become trained in skills which beckoned to him with greater allure. He participated in the campaigns of Granada and Africa, and, pressing on to distant horizons, the eventual conquest of Nicaragua, formulating the design of Panama as well.

From that time until the present day, the palace has been home to lords who have alternated learning with leisure, and, when necessary, warfare. The estate produced one of its maximum exponents in the late nineteenth century in the person of the Count of Cedillo, member of the Academy of History, whose youngest daughter, Constanza, married the equally illustrious Marquis of Lozoya, who presently keeps the estate as a summer home for study and recreation.

Taking a giant step forward in time, the palace’s amber-coloured stained glass, so characteristic of Plateresque facades, inspired the filmmaker Victor Erice in 1973 to choose this magical setting for his legendary film, El espíritu de la colmena, a beautiful and haunting portrait of post-civil war Spain.

People recede into the mists of time, but buildings and their history remain. In acknowledgement of this fact, the Palace of Hoyuelos today opens its doors to new generations of curious travellers and incurable globetrotters.