Sástago Palace

The Palace of the Counts of Sástago, located on the Coso, one of the most modern areas of the city in the 16th century, was the site chosen by Don Artal de Alagón y Luna, 3rd Count of Sástago and Viceroy of Aragon, to build one of his houses in Zaragoza to demonstrate his immense political, economic, and social power.

It served as a residence for kings (Philip II, Charles IV and Maria Luisa of Parma, and Ferdinand VII), the seat of the Council of War, offices of the General Headquarters of the Army of Aragon, and the residence of General Palafox until 1815. It also housed the Captaincy General of Aragon and the police headquarters.

During the Sieges of Zaragoza, the palace suffered extensive damage when the Convent of San Francisco, now the seat of the Provincial Council of Zaragoza, caught fire.

The last Count of Sástago He rented part of the palace to the Casino of Zaragoza. The palace courtyard was also rented to Café Paris and later, until 1960, to the Banco Español de Crédito. On the ground floor is the "Casa Zorraquino" shop, famous for its chocolates, pralines, and guirlache (a type of nougat). This old establishment still maintains the eclectic and neo-Baroque style it was given in 1922, and is now occupied by the shop of the Muel Ceramics Workshop School and the publications of the Fernando el Católico Institution. The house's façade is made of brick, common in the city's historic buildings due to the scarcity of stone in the area. Although normally closed to the public, its modernist library is one of the jewels of the small palace. Currently, exhibitions are held there, and works by Picasso, Dalí, and Manuel Viola, among many others, have been displayed in its rooms.