Madrid - Foreign Ministry Palacio de Santa Cruz

The Palacio de Santa Cruz, now occupied by the Foreign Ministry (Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores), was originally built in the 17th C. as a prison. Together with the Plaza Mayor and the Casa de la Villa it forms part of the "Government quarter" which grew up round the old Alcázar of the Habsburgs. This substantial and well-proportioned building, with two stories flanked by towers, is believed to have been designed either by Juan Bautista Crescenci or by Juan Gómez de Mora, the architect responsible for the Plaza Mayor.