House of the Spanish Inquisition

The House of the Spanish Inquisition in Mengíbar is located on Calle Jaén, one of the streets that lead to Plaza de la Constitución. It was built in the second half of the 17th century. The facade is in the Baroque style. The house formed part of a larger construction which, over time, has been divided into several homes. In 1751 it was the residence of Juan Ventura Rubio Galera, priest and notary of the Holy Office of the Inquisition in Córdoba.

The most striking element of the building is the two-storey main facade, with whitewashed walls and a central doorway flanked on either side by rectangular windows. The doorway is composed of two openings, one on top of the other. The ground-floor opening, with Tuscan pilasters and a rusticated lintel, bears the coat of arms of the Spanish Inquisition on the keystone. Above it run a smooth frieze and a moulded cornice surmounted by a rectangular window fronted by a box-type wrought-iron grille , with four-petal flowers. The Cross of Calatrava adorns the central panel of the grille and the crest. The window is flanked by carved stone with symmetrical ornamentation, once again dominated by the cross of the Military Order of Calatrava.

The house was renovated and divided into several homes that were allocated to residents of Mengíbar in 1994. The building is registered in the General Catalogue of Andalusian Historical Heritage.