An audiovisual presentation on the county’s heritage, the main new feature of visits to Cas Comte
From May 1, visitors to the Torre-saura county palace will also be able to appreciate the work done to restore and classify the family’s extensive library and admire some of the furniture belonging to Can Faustino, the younger brother of the third and fourth counts.
The company Talaia Cultura SL, which the Torre-saura Foundation has entrusted since day one with adapting the palace and managing visits, has spent the last few months working on the restoration of rooms, furniture, and furnishings of great historical and artistic value. In addition, it has organized and inventoried the nearly 2,000 books that make up the family library and has continued to work on the documentary archive, which now exceeds 100,000 registered documents.
The disposal to the Fundación José María de Olives y de Ponsich, Conde de Torre-saura of part of the furnishings of Can Faustino to be displayed in the rooms of the count’s palace has made possible to complete the decoration of several halls and restore a uniquely crafted office that the Foundation has chosen to dedicate to the family of Faustino Olives Saura, younger brother of the 3rd and 4th Counts of Torre-saura, Bernat Magí and Gabriel.
This is a room with a polychrome ceiling, decorated with fine geometric plaster moldings, and walls adorned with Venetian lustre. The room contains various decorative elements, furniture, and family portraits from the house known as Can Faustino, among which the fireplace that presided over its main hall for decades stands out.
Gabriel Olives y de Ponsich, Marqués de Moyá de la Torre Library
This is one of the rooms that has been restored to look as similar as possible to how it did when it was frequently visited by Olives family. Here you can admire the nearly 2,000 books on its shelves, written in Latin, English, Spanish, Catalan, and especially French, a culture particularly admired by the family, as evidenced by the large number of volumes on subjects such as the Enlightenment and the French Revolution. The Olives family’s literary collection covers a wide range of subjects from the 16th to the late 20th century.
The Board of the Torre-saura Foundation has decided to name the library after Gabriel Olives y de Ponsich (1911-1954), who took a special interest in its organization and preservation.
An audiovisual presentation about the County
One of the most notable new features offered to visitors to Cas Comte this year is the screening of an audiovisual presentation that provides a bird’s-eye view of the county’s heritage spread across the length and breadth of the island. A space has been set up for this purpose on the ground floor, in what was formerly the servants’ quarters. In just over five minutes, viewers will learn about the main estates of the largest and most powerful estate on the island over the last three centuries.
Exhibition of objects
The company Talaia Cultura SL has recovered some of the most significant personal objects stored in the house’s chests for display. Collections of everyday and decorative objects, different decorations, coins, and part of the ceremonial clothing of the orders of chivalry to which the various counts belonged can be admired in the display cases set up for this purpose.
Other new features
The large cistern that supplies water to the house has been illuminated and can be seen from a point on the ground floor tour route.
In addition, visitors will be able to view the room that houses the county’s historical archive, where experts have been working on its recovery and cataloging for almost three years.
Finally, anyone interested in the volumes contained in the family library or the documents in the county’s historical archive can consult the inventory files on the Foundation’s website: fundaciontorresaura.com.
Visiting hours
Cas Comte will be open to the public from May 1 to October 31.
During the months of May and October from Monday through Saturday, in the morning, from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
During peak season (June, July, August, and September), the count’s house can be visited Monday through Friday from 10:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. and from 4:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. On Saturdays, it is only open in the morning, from 10:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
For those interested in taking a guided tour: Starting June 1, a weekly guided tour will be scheduled every Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. Reservations can be made on the Foundation’s website: fundaciontorresaura.com or at the palace reception desk.
