Castillo de la Emperatriz Eugenia de Montijo

The Castillo de la Emperatriz Eugenia de Montijo is a neo-Gothic castle in the village of Arteaga, near Bilbao in the Basque Country of Spain. It is designated a Basque Heritage building.LocationThe castle is located in a fertile part of the Urdaibai estuary, not far from the historic town of Guernica. Unlike Spanish castles built for defense, it is not in an elevated position but on a plain or meadow, surrounded by trees and other vegetation. In this respect it resembles Fontainebleau Castle and other French royal residences.HistoryThe original manor house was said to have been built in the eighth century by Fortún Ortúnez and Sancho Gaúteguiz, and was destroyed and rebuilt many times. The castle was built on the foundations of a tower mentioned in writings from the mid-fifteenth century. By the nineteenth century it was very run down, having been used as a farmhouse. The tower was owned by the Arteaga family, who were related to the Montijo family and thus to the Empress Eugénie de Montijo, wife of Napoleon III of France.The decision to build the new castle, or chateau, was in response to a decree in 1856 by the assembly of Basque country that the Prince Imperial was a Viscayan. They said that the newly-born prince was descended from the lords of Arteaga and Montijo, and he was thus Señor de las Torres de Arteaga. At the request of the empress, the emperor sent his architects to the town to draw up plans for the new building and undertake construction.Louis-Auguste Couvrechef was assigned the project, and then Gabriel-Auguste Ancelet took over responsibility. The concept was a medieval castle surrounded by four walls with round towers. Ancelet undertook reconstruction of the castle in 1859. The project involved building kitchens on the ground floor, a salon and dining room on the first floor, an antechamber and apartments for the imperial couple on the next floor and rooms at the top for the staff. Ancelet designed all the decorations. Many of the works were made by French entrepreneurs and artisans, such as Bernard, the painter and decorator from Bagnères-de-Luchon. A park was laid out, and after many delays the project was near completion in 1873, the year that the Emperor died.