| The
house Cuatro de Oros is located at the entrance to the medieval
fortified town of Santa Cruz de la Zarza, close to one of
its gates; the Arco de Villa, the only remaining and visible
part of the walls in our days. The ramparts ran along the
street of Barraras, onto which the door to the patio of the
house of the Cuatro de Oros opens.
The walls were adjoining and flanked by towers of limestone
and plaster, according to the documents of Philip II that
date back to around the year of 1575. They were constructed
by the Christian noblemen who stole these lands from the Moors
in the beginning of the XIIth century, and part of the remains
of the ramparts can today be seen in the Restaurant of the
Cuatro de Oros.
Some
of these noblemen, - there were altogether twenty in Santa
Cruz according to chronicles from the XVI century –
must have owned this house as it was then known as the house
of the Two Doors (Casa de las Dos Puertas) and its owners
contributed with money to the construction of the walls that
formed the back part of the original corral. Families like
the Chacones, Pachecos or Manriques de Lara, where at that
time the mayors of the council and the most powerful gentlemen
of the region. It is to the Lara Family that the property
of the house of the Two Doors has been alleged.
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The
legend tells that Don Juan Manuel de Lara ordered the
construction of a second door in the house when King
Charles III requested him to welcome his daughter, Angela
de Lara, back under his roof.
“This daughter had left the house to marry Don
Alonso Chacón, son of the enemy of Don Juan Manuel”,
and he had sworn then that this daughter would not return
to enter the door through which she had left to marry.
For this reason it was necessary to open another door,
when the king mediated in the reconciliation of the
two hidalgos.
Legends
apart, we know that the blazon of the house of the Two
Doors was known as the Coat of Arms of the Clergymen,
because it belonged to the Cano-Cordido family who lived
in Santa Cruz from the mid XVI century to the end of
the XVIII century. The Conos were relatives of Melchor
Cano, the theologian of the Council of Trent, and they
were always tied to the Church. They were also by family
related to the “Santo Oficio” (Inquisition).
At the end of XVIII century the two families Beraldo
and Rodriguez appear as owners of the lot and the house
of the Two Doors is divided. The back part, the part
adjacent to the walls or the House of the Two Doors,
goes to the Rodriguez Family. At the beginning of the
XX century, this family reforms the old mansion, turning
it into both a house and a flour mill.
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