The Patio de Fúcares has had various ages, such as a lace factory, a school, and a home of neighbors, which led it to undergo major changes and modifications of the elements that originally made up the building. In 1975 it was acquired by the State, which started a restoration program. It is currently the headquarters of the Popular University of Almagro and since 2000 it has been used as a framework for the theatre.
The Patio de Fúcares is one of the best representations of the principles of mannerism in Almagro. Nobody knows when its construction began, only that it was finished a little after 1525. This was the year in which Carlos V mandated an increase in the output of the Függer’s alloy mines, an act which obliged Jacobo Függer to construct a building that could serve as both office and storage space.
In its gothic and renaissance characteristics, the building is far away from the the traditional taste of the Függer family, because it follows certain constructive concepts utilized in Muslim and mannerist architecture. Its function as an administrative building makes it similar in certain ways to other structures such as the “alhondigas,” (public houses used for storage and for the buying and selling of wheat) and the “alcaicerias.” (sites where crude silk and other merchandise were sold) The structures were made up of a large, broad hall which opens into a central, two-story patio. The galleries above this patio were used as offices, business centers, storage spaces, and for lodging.
In this building, two constructive moments can be witnessed, the first corresponding with the first half of the 16th century and the second corresponding with the end of the 16th century. In both moments, the definitive influence, presence, and contribution of the artists who worked on the Palace of El Viso can be seen. These artists are Esteban Peroli and Juan Maria, a stucco artist who remodeled the hallway, patio, and stairway.
The influence of the Italians is very clear. The Patio is similar in many ways to the Palace of El Viso. For example the doorway is situated at an angle in both structures. And even though it employs a cultivated language, it is configured by Tuscan pillars in a pattern which is repeated on the lintel. This type of door is the proof of the intervention of the Italian artists, who used the same typologies in all of their structures.
The hallway is set slightly at an angle, and is perpendicular to the facade, unlike in the Palace of El Viso, in which the hallway is situated parallel to the facade. The vault which covers the hallway, however, is the same as the one in the palace, and the decoration in both spaces is taken from “el Libro (book) IV de Serlio. This decoration consists of ripples and waves, which are done in stucco. The hallway communicates directly with the four porticos of the patio which each open into a different room. These rooms have coffered ceilings and converge into a grand salon covered by three vaults that are similar to the ones in the hallway. This salon most likely served as a reception hall or an office of some sort. It corresponds on the top floor with a room of identical dimensions which contains a beautiful chimney adorned with stucco.
The patio is rectangular, with three brick arches on each of the shorter sides, and four on each of the longer sides. The arches are supported by stone Tuscan columns and a stone balustrade. The stairway is located on the south side of the patio; it is made up of a central spine and covered by stucco vaults similar in style to the ones in the hallway. These vaults are decorated with floral and diamond shaped carvings.
This building has known many diverse uses; as a lace factory and as a high school, for example. It has thus undergone many important transformations and modifications over time, which, understandably, have changed some of the building’s original structural elements.