Palace of San Telmo

The Palace of San Telmo (Palacio de San Telmo) is a historical edifice in Seville, southern Spain, now the seat of the presidency of the Andalusian Autonomous Government. Construction of the building began in 1682 outside the walls of the city, on property belonging to the Tribunal of the Holy Office, the institution responsible for the Spanish Inquisition.

It was originally constructed as the seat of the Seminary School of the University of Navigators (Colegio Seminario de la Universidad de Mareantes), a school of orphan children of sailors. The palace is one of the emblematic buildings of Sevillian Baroque architecture. It is built on a rectangular plan, with several interior courtyards, including a central courtyard, towers on the four corners, a chapel, and gardens.

The exuberantly baroque chapel, accessed from one of the courtyards, is the work of architect Leonardo de Figueroa; among those involved in its decoration were sculptor Pedro Duque y Cornejo, stonecutter Miguel de Quintana, painter Domingo Martínez, and carpenter Juan Tomás Díaz. Presiding over the chapel is an early 17th century statue of Nuestra Señora del Buen Aire ("Our Lady of Good Air").

The principal façade of the palace is distinguished by the magnificent Churrigueresque entrance completed in 1754, the work of other members of the Figueroa family, specifically Matías and Antonio Matías, son and grandson of Leonardo de Figueroa, at a cost of 50,000 pesos. The entryway consists of several parts. The door is flanked by three columns on each side. Over the door is a balcony supported by Atlantes (supports sculpted in the form of a man) with aspects of indigenous people of the Americas; twelve allegorical female figures represent the nautical arts and sciences. Finally, there is a sculptural grouping with columns and a figure of Peter González, Saint Telmo (or Elmo), patron saint of sailors, flanked by the patron saints of the city: Saint Ferdinand (Ferdinand III of Castile) and Saint Hermenegild.

Atop the façade facing Calle Palos de la Frontera, across from the Hotel Alfonso XIII, are sculptures of twelve illustrious Sevillians, sculpted in 1895 by Antonio Susillo.

It is the oldest building in Seville in the neomudéjar style. Work began in 1991 to convert the building for use as the official seat of the presidency of the Andalusian Autonomous Government. In 2005, a second phase of restoration took place, primarily to restore the structure more to its original configuration, which had been changed considerably by various interventions over the centuries. This last project took place under the leadership of Sevillian architect Guillermo Vázquez Consuegra.

On 10 March 1682 construction began on the building, dedicated to the University of Navigators (Universidad de Mareantes), an institution that later became the Colegio de Marina and then Colegio de Naútica, a role in which it continued until 1847. Thereafter, the building had a number of uses. In 1989, when the arch-episcopate of Seville ceded the building to the Andalusian Autonomous Government to be the new seat of the presidency.