In the 1760s the Count of Superunda (a curious title granted by the king Ferdinand VI for the services provided to José Antonio Manso de Velasco y Sánchez de Samaniego, who, when he was Viceroy of Peru, stood out for his excellent task of rebuilding a devastated Lima after the earthquake of 1746, Superunda, from super, gran and unda, from wave or wave, the Count of the Great Wave) acquired site number five in block 536 of Madrid to build what would be his residence. The palace was built in 1768 by the architect Antonio Plo, a year after the death of the Count, who fell in disgrace and retired in Priego de Córdoba, when he had to surrender Havana to the English troops, he who was passing through there, on his way back to Spain.

A neoclassical façade by Agustín López was added to the palace in 1774. Today its address is Calle de San Bernardino, number 14, with a return to Calle del Limón, number 2.
In 1870 it was acquired by the Marquis of Santa Cruz. It was expanded and renovated by the architect Juan José Sánchez Pescador. He kept the original structure practically intact, but built an extra floor. Since then we know him as Palace of the Marquis of Santa Cruz.
Its exterior appearance does not make us suspect that the interior is a jewel. Two floors with a door façade marked by two Tuscan stone columns, without ornaments. Not in vain is it the palace of the descendants of the Spanish admiral, Álvaro de Bazán, first Marquis of Santa Cruz. He brought to Spain as war booty the lanterns that illuminated the Turkish ships that he defeated in 1571 in the battle of Lepanto. Today they decorate and illuminate the majestic staircase of the palace, which unfortunately cannot be visited.

But in the will of its last owner, Casilda de Silva, a descendant of Bazán and Marchioness of Santa Cruz, she determined that the palace and the artistic and historical treasures it houses, where there are works of Bruegel, Van Dyck, Goya, Jordán, Carreño de Miranda, Carduccio, Vicente López, madrazo o Sorolla, would be free access for Madrid residents and anyone who wishes to visit them.

Some years have passed since the death of Casilda de Silva and the palace still cannot be visited. Recently, the National Historical Archive and the Don Álvaro de Bazán Foundation have signed a concordat by which this foundation will deposit in the Nobility Section of the National Historical Archive, in Toledo, the documentary archives of the Marquisate of Santa Cruz and the Duchy of San Carlos, among which are correspondence with the Spanish royal family or archives by Don Álvaro de Bazán, first Marquis of Santa Cruz, about military campaigns such as the Battle of Lepanto or the preparations for the Invincible Armada.

Let's hope that soon we can enjoy the rest of the treasures.

A abrazo.